20171214qingli 2017-12-01 00:00Powered by D A The lives of children from rich and poor American families look more different than they have in decades.u3000u3000B Well-off families are ruled by calendars. with children enrolled in ballet. soccer and after-school programsaccording to a new Pew Research Center survey There are usually two parentswho spend a lot of time reading to children and worrying about their anxiety levels and hectic schedules.u3000u3000C In poor families. however. children tend to spend their time at home or with extended family. the survey found They are more likely to grow up in neighborhoods that their parents say arent great for raising children. and their parents worry about them getting shotbeaten up or in trouble with the law.u3000u3000D The class differences m child rearing are growingresearchers say - a symptom of widening inequality with far-reaching consequences Different upbringings set children on different paths and can deepen socioeconomic divisions. Especially because education is strongly linked to earnings Children grow up learning the skills to succeed in their socioeconomic stratum. but not necessarily others.u3000u3000E Early childhood experiences can be very consequential for childrens long-term socialemotional and cognitive development. said Sean F.Reardon. professor of poverty and inequality in education at Stanford University -And because those influence educational success and later earnings. early childhood experiences cast a lifelong shadow The cycle continues: Poorer parents have less time and fewer resources to invest in their children. which can leave children less prepared for school and work. which leads to lower earnings.u3000u3000F American parents want similar things for their childrenthe Pew report and past research have found: for them to be healthy and happyhonest and ethicalcaring and compassionate There is no best parenting style or philosophyresearchers sayand across income groups92 percent of parents say they are doing a good job at raising their children. Yet they are doing it quite differently Middle-class and higher-income parents see their children as projects in need of careful cultivationsays Annette Lareaua University of Pennsylvania sociologist whose goundbreaking research on the topic was published in her book Unequal Childhoods: ClassRace and Family Life They try to develop their skills through close supervision and organized activitiesand teach children to question authority figures and navigate elite institutions.u3000u3000G Working-class parentsmeanwhilebelieve their children will naturally thriveand give them far greater independence and time for free play They are taught to be compliant and deferential to adults There are benefits to both approaches Working-class children are happiermore independentwhine less and are closer with family membersMs Lareau found Higher-income children are more likely to declare boredom and expect their parents to solve their problems Yet later onthe more affluent children end up in college and en route to the middle classwhile working-class children tend to struggle Children from higher-income families are likely to have the skills to navigate bureaucracies and succeed in schools and workplacesMs.Lareau said:u3000u3000H Do all parents want the most success for their children? Absolutely she said Do some strategies give children more advantages than others in institutions? Probably they do Will parents be damaging children if they have one fewer organized activity? NoI really doubt it. u3000u3000I Social scientists say the differences arise in part because low-income parents have less money to spend on music class or preschooland less flexible schedules to take children to museums or attend school events Extracurricular activities epitomize the differences in child rearing in the Pew surveywhich was of a nationally representative sample of l807 parents Of families earning more than $75000 a year84 percent say their children have participated in organized sports over the past year64 percent have done volunteer work and 62 percent have taken lessons in musicdance or art Of families earning less than $3000059 percent of children have done sports37 percent have volunteered and 41 percent have taken arts classes.u3000u3000J Especially in affluent familieschildren start young Nearly half of high-earningcollege-graduate parents enrolled their children in arts classes before they were 5compared with one-fifth oflow-incomeless-educated parents. Nonetheless20 percent of well-off parents say their childrens schedules are too hecticcompared with 8 percent of poor