Disadvantages in Education for Children Living in Poverty

Dermott, E., & Pomati, M. (2016). “Good” Parenting Practices: How Important are Poverty, Education and Time Pressure? Sociology, 50(1), 125–142. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44017431

This essay analyzes the relationship between “great” parenting approaches and the pressures of school and time that modern families confront. Modern families are under a lot of stress. The article explains how parenting practices such as reading, playing games, and eating meals together are absent among those who are less well educated, have lower incomes, or are more dependent on socially accepted necessities. As a result, political claims of widespread “poor parenting” are misplaced. The fact that the behaviors of the most educationally privileged parents which are distinct from those of the majority are accepted as the benchmark against which others are assessed compels us to suggest that the renewed interest in sociological research on elites should be extended to family life so that the exceptionality of those who are the most privileged can be acknowledged.
Gráinne Kent, Vasiliki Pitsia & Gary Colton (2020) Cognitive development during early childhood: insights from families living in areas of socio-economic disadvantage, Early Child Development and Care, 190:12, 1863-1877, DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2018.1543665
It has long been believed that the first year of a child’s existence has a significant impact on the child’s later cognitive development. However, the research literature has suggested that various factors may facilitate children’s resilience to socio-economic disadvantage.
While area-based socio-economic disadvantage has been identified as a possible risk factor for cognitive development, this literature has also suggested that various factors may facilitate resilience in children. The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors that might be able to predict a child’s cognitive development at the age of four, from socioeconomically deprived areas in Ireland. The research looked at how much factors like a child’s gender, whether or not breastfeeding was attempted, household income, maternal education and cognition, mother-child bonding, parent-child interactions, and the severity of intervention all had a role in predicting cognitive development. According to the findings of the study, gender, breastfeeding attempts,
income, and the intensity of the intervention were statistically significant predictors of cognitive development in children. These four factors also explained a significant portion of the variation in the children’s cognitive scores. The findings are explored, and then ramifications for both policy and practice are presented.
Bubonya, Melisa and Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., Pathways of Disadvantage: Unpacking the Intergenerational Correlation in Welfare. IZA Discussion Paper No. 12893, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3525220
Investigating the mechanisms that allow welfare receipts to be passed down through families is the mission of this project. They analyze and calculate the intergenerational correlation in welfare but also quantify the portion that operates through key mechanisms. They do this to better understand how the intergenerational correlation in welfare affects key mechanisms. The potential mediators that they take into consideration together explain the intergenerational connection in welfare receipt. The inability to graduate high school is the key factor used to determine eligibility for welfare across generations. Teenagers who come from families that are dependent on welfare are more likely to have their education interrupted (through things like moving around frequently, changing schools, or being expelled or suspended), and they also receive less financial support from their families, both of which reduce the likelihood that they will graduate from high school and stay off the welfare rolls.

Another crucial factor that contributes to intergenerational dependence on welfare is the risk- taking behavior of young people, such as smoking, the use of illegal drugs, delinquency, and unplanned pregnancy. In contrast, the transmission of welfare receipts from one generation to the next is only influenced by factors such as physical and mental health, attitudes about welfare and work, and academic achievement.