44 pages • 1 hour read
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
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Increasing Class Disparities and Expanding Inequality of Opportunity
The growing gap between lower-income and higher-income children is depicted throughout the book using charts, and the growing divide is described as a “scissor chart,” with the equivalent of the two blades of the scissors being opened and therefore widening over time. This is a recurring theme throughout the book: that class differences were relatively inconsequential at an earlier point in time but now are on different trajectories that are growing further apart over time.
In explaining these differences, the author also compares the steps needed to be successful to the rungs of a ladder and notes that the “rungs of the ladder are further apart than they used to be” (228, quoting Isabel Sawhill, Getting Ahead or Losing Ground). In the past, family and community support helped boost kids up the ladder, but that is less common now.
The Implications of Increasing Geographic Segregation
Throughout the book, the author notes that families from different classes rarely live in the same communities, as they frequently did in the 1950s. This phenomenon has several implications in terms of the opportunities available to lower-class children.
In terms of schools and communities, for example, those in poorer neighborhoods have less resources and therefore provide less opportunities, and lower quality opportunities, to children. In addition, regardless of their own class status, kids do better when they are surrounded by affluent kids, in part due to positive peer pressure. Kids in poorer communities also have less opportunity to participate in the extracurricular activities that would help them develop soft skills that are important to future success.
More fundamentally, when only poor people live in a community, there are less opportunities for families to get to know others from different social classes who could potentially serve as mentors to their children. People in lower-income neighborhoods tend to only know others in the same situation, and therefore there are less informal mentors available to provide support and guidance to those who are looking to move up in the world. Reforms focusing on raising the performance of schools serving low-income students could help, as would increasing the funding of those schools and creating more opportunities for lower-income children to attend schools with more affluent students.
The Importance of Early Intervention
A recurring theme throughout the book is that the early childhood years are critical to development and that these years deserve a greater focus than they currently receive. More affluent parents have been privy to more information about the importance of interacting with their babies and toddlers to stimulate their brain development. In contrast, many lower-income parents do not have the time or energy to do so, and they may not even know of the implications of these activities for the future success of their children.
The studies discussed in the book make clear that healthy brain development requires consistent interaction with caring adults in the early years. These studies also show that healthy brain development correlates with social class, which in turn correlates with future success. The book therefore emphasizes that early intervention would have a greater impact than initiatives that are focused on the K-12 years.
Stress also plays a key role during early childhood, whether it is the parent or the child under stress. Maternal stress in the first year, for example, disrupts the parent-child relationship and has long-lasting implications. Similarly, children who experience chronic stress early in life experience long lasting effects, including problems with the executive functions that are so important throughout life. In contrast, parents with nurturing relationships with their children in those early years can help them become more resilient long term.
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