Poverty is the Main Cause of Social Class Differences in Educational Achievement
This essay will assess the view that poverty is the main cause of
social class differences in educational achievement. There are many
causes of these differences which can be linked to cultural
deprivation, and will be discussed in this essay.
Material deprivation is lack of money and things which money can buy,
and is the main cause of poverty. Item B suggests that that this is
the main cause of social class differences in educational achievement
as it says that most truants come from poor working class backgrounds
and are less likely than their middle class counter parts to obtain a
good formal education.
Similarly, during the sixties sociologists believed that the low
attainment of many working class children resulted from material
deprivation. A middle class child would have access to many books,
internet access, extra tuition etc which would help them to attain
better grades. However working class pupils are more likely to live in
poor conditions and have an unhealthy diet which could lead to
tiredness and ill health.
In support of this a recent study by Machin 2003 suggested that
traditionally many working class students left school at an early age
because they were put off by the high costs of higher education, as
their parents couldn’t afford to support them. More recently even
though grants are available for students from low income families they
are still put off by the high costs.
From a different perspective sociologists such as douglas and sugarman
provide support for the cultural deprivation theory, which states that
the work...
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knowledge is privileged. As their culture is closer to that of the
school they are more likely to succeed.
A similar view is expresses by diane reay who studied social capital
and concluded that it is mothers who have the main influence on their
childs education. This is because middle class mothers have more
cultural capital and material capital- they have more qualifications
and information about how the educational system worked.
In conclusion there are many causes of social class differences in
educational achievement and poverty is one of them. It is important
because material capital ie books etc can be converted into high
qualifications. However cultural capital may have more of a
significance because middle classes naturally have more cultural
capital which can be converted into high salaries etc.
Authors Michelle Tokarczyk, Peter Sacks, Robert Haverman and Timothy Smeeding all write about certain problems that working class students are facing in education in the U.S. , especially in college education which is usually defined as higher education. Although they focus on different aspects of the problem, they still have some ideas in common. In their articles, all of them discuss how economic and social class occupies a very significant role in the quality of education an American student receives. In order to support their claims, all of them employ studies as their strong evidence. They also imply that college education fails to consider the special issues and conditions that working class students have. In addition, higher education fails to help those students to improve their circumstances and social mobility. Even though all of the problems that working class students face are important, some of them are extremely significant factors to their struggles to obtain a college education, such as the economic and social class of the working class student. The main problems that working class students face in America also occur in the education system in China.
Some people may have decent jobs, but the bills and other expenses people may have make it harder on people than those who are in the same class but don’t necessarily have to go through the same thing as others. The chapters that I read in this book broaden what I said to a better, more clear understanding. In chapter 6, "The College Dropout Boom" talked about the idea of how higher education, meaning college, and how it should be the ticket to success in America.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Even the mere inequality of wealth in a child’s social, cultural, or educational setting can have effects on a child’s peer to peer interactions, hierarchical structure and their ability to achieve. Gorard 2010 as discussed in Victoria Cooper, 2014 (p160), links poverty and or social deprivation with lower academic results. In the Xiao Bo case study by Child poverty research and policy centre, 2013 (Heather Montgomery, 2014) it demonstrates the multifaceted effects of poverty on a child, such as the stresses it places on the family to educate children, pressure on the children themselves to succeed in education to enable them to assist with family finances and lifestyle, the compromises and sacrifices made as a family unit in lifestyle and financial planning in order to pursue education of the child, as well as demonstrating the wide range of instigators that create inequalities of wealth, such as political/policy decisions, loopholes in aid assistance, cost of education and unequal access to resources. In 2001 the Millennium development goals were set out in response to the millennium summit of the united nations to reduce poverty and its associated issues, of the eight goals, the first goal was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, demonstrating the comprehension of the wide ranging affect of poverty on children and society as a whole, and an understanding that poverty ‘Damages children in every way’ as stated by Unicef
unskilled or semiskilled jobs” (2). This shows that working class schools are created for working
There are many opportunities in America that can improve one’s wealth and power, thus leading to the mass amount of immigrants coming to American. Most immigrants that come to American usually are categorized as the lower class immigrants, but they take any opportunities to improve their economic status. In an article by Howard P. Chudacoff, it states “immigrants generally chose upward paths that led from manual labor into small proprietorships” (Chudacoff 1982: 104). This explains the reason why immigrants choose to come and stay in America. They start out small as laborers then over time they will work to own a small business. Even though immigrants gets to grow to move from the lower class to the middle class, the natives will be always
The parents as the role models for their children that means many children will do what their parents mostly do, hence, is really important that the parents teaching their child. However, the research find out that the parents with higher socioeconomic states are more involved in their kids’ schooling (Chu et all, 1996) The reason seems obvious to me due to the importance of parents’ education, if the parents having more school, than parents could be like a ‘coach’ for their kids, that parents could guide the road of succeed. Also, the parents with higher education might provide a favorable environment since is easier to get a steady job with higher education. According to Kean, (2005), the parents with higher education have positive influence on children’s outcome, cause the majority of parents who are very educated might influence their kids though beliefs and behaviors, that will lead children and youth to a positive outcome (Kean, 2005).
In her article she points out how social class has become the main gateway to opportunity in America. The widening academic divide means that kids who grow up poor will most likely stay poor and the kids who grow up rich will most likely stay rich. About fifty years ago the main concern about getting a good education relied on your race but now it's about your social class. Researchers are starting to believe that children who come from higher income families tend to do better in school and get higher test scores.
Perry, E and Francis, B., 2010. The social class gap for educational achievement: a review of the literature. [online] RSA projects. Available at: [accessed 12 January 2014].
room at home to do homework, as they may have to share a room with
Social class is a determinant used to define where a family stands in terms of salary and socioeconomic status. However, it is used to determine what will be offered to the family, for example, the type of school that each child will attend. But what it does not determine is the success of that student’s education attainment. Money can buy a college education yet, it will not buy literacy.
Socioeconomic status can be defined in terms of family wealth and assets as well as educational background. For this reason, many comparisons can be made between socioeconomic status and education. Furthermore, academic achievement and the level of education reached by an individual, is determined by socioeconomic status. Research has shown that environmental circumstances and family issues greatly influence a child's future because the impact of the socioeconomic status depends on the level to which an individual becomes successful in life. Research also shows that family conditions can impact a child’s education and their quality of life. For example, being raised in a high-economic culture increases the chances that a child will attend
There are many different factors that affect education. One such factor is, socioeconomic status. Children who attend school in a wealthier community receive a better education than those students in poor communities. In poor communities, student’s education is not only affected by a lack of resources, but also from teaching methods and philosophies. Urban and poor schools’ students do not receive as equal of an education as their more affluent and suburban counterparts do.
Whitty, G. (2001) Education, social class and social Exclusion. Journal of Education Policy, 16(4) pp 287-295.
The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in. "Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success.
Living in poverty exposes children to disadvantages that influence many aspects in their life that are linked to their ability to do well in school. In the United States of America there are an estimated 16.4 million children under the age of 18 living in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). “The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower the educational attainment” (Kerbo, 2012). Children who are raised in low-income households are at risk of failing out before graduating high school (Black & Engle, 2008). U.S. children living in poverty face obstacles that interfere with their educational achievement. Recognizing the problems of living in poverty can help people reduce the consequences that prevent children from reaching their educational potential.