—Mitchell Duneier, author of Sidewalk and Slim’s Table
Unequal Childhoods
Unequal Childhoods
Class, Race, and Family Life
SECOND EDITION
WITH AN UPDATE A DECADE LATER
Annette Lareau
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University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2011 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lareau, Annette.
Unequal childhoods : class, race, and family life / Annette Lareau.—2nd ed., with an update a decade later.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-27142-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Children—Social conditions. 2. Families.
I. Title.
HQ767.9.L37 2011
305.23089′96073—dc23 2011017738
Manufactured in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fiber paper that is FSC certified, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certified.
For Samuel, for the many ways
in which he enriches my life,
and in memory of George McClure,
who offered me, and many other young
scholars, criticism, care, and confidence
Contents
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments
1. Concerted Cultivation and the Accomplishment of
Natural Growth
2. Social Structure and Daily Life
PART I. ORGANIZATION OF DAILY LIFE
3. The Hectic Pace of Concerted Cultivation: Garrett Tallinger
4. A Child’s Pace: Tyrec Taylor
5. Children’s Play Is for Children: Katie Brindle
PART II. LANGUAGE USE
6. Developing a Child: Alexander Williams
7. Language as a Conduit for Social Life: Harold McAllister
PART III. FAMILIES AND INSTITUTIONS
8. Concerted Cultivation in Organizational Spheres: Stacey Marshall
9. Concerted Cultivation Gone Awry: Melanie Handlon
10. Letting Educators Lead the Way: Wendy Driver
11. Beating with a Belt, Fearing “the School”: Little Billy Yanelli
12. The Power and Limits of Social Class
PART IV. UNEQUAL CHILDHOODS AND UNEQUAL ADULTHOODS
13. Class Differences in Parents’ Information and Intervention
in the Lives of Young Adults
14. Reflections on Longitudinal Ethnography and the Families’ Reactions to Unequal Childhoods
15. Unequal Childhoods in Context: Results from a Quantitative Analysis
Annette Lareau, Elliot Weininger, Dalton Conley, and Melissa Velez
Afterword
Appendix A. Methodology:
Enduring Dilemmas in Fieldwork
Appendix B. Theory:
Understanding the Work of Pierre Bourdieu
Appendix C. Supporting Tables
Appendix D. Tables for the Second Edition
Notes
Revised Bibliography
Index
Preface
to the Second Edition
Since Unequal Childhoods was published, the children in the book have passed through childhood and adolescence into adulthood. At the end of the study, I had wanted to know how the lives of these children would unfold. I was particularly interested to see if the patterns of class differences in child rearing would continue over time. Thus, approximately ten years after the original study, when the youth were between the ages of nineteen and twenty-one, I revisited the twelve families who were in the intensive study. In this second edition of the book, I report the findings from the follow-up study. Three new chapters on these findings are added as Part IV, followed by a brief Afterword. Also included are an additional table in Appendix C, a new Appendix D, and a revised bibliography. The material from the first edition remains unchanged.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The process of moving to a second edition of Unequal Childhoods had a number of challenges, but I was also greatly blessed with intellectual, social, and material support. The Spencer Foundation gave generous financial assistance for the project. My program officer, Susan Dauber, deserves particular thanks. While all errors are my own responsibility, I remain deeply indebted to the Spencer Foundation for the ways in which they made the project possible. Temple University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Pennsylvania all provided much-appreciated institutional support. The Institute for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California, gave me an intellectual home during 2005–6. Dalton Conley graciously supplied office space at New York University at a critical point in the study. My writing group members, Erin McNamara Horvat and Demie Kurz, gave me indispensable feedback. Patricia Berhau had a crucial position in the original study and also in the data analysis of the follow-up study. It is hard to convey the depth of my gratitude to Elliot Weininger for his immeasurable contributions. I also owe a special debt to Amanda Cox for her conversations, coding work, and collaboration. Indeed, the separate essays I coauthored with Elliot Weininger and with Amanda Cox helped to develop many of the points I discuss here; Chapter 13, in particular, includes material from these joint works. Audiences at a number of institutions, especially George Mason University, the University of California San Diego, Northwestern University, Franklin and Marshall, Harvard University, the University of California Los Angeles, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania, provided helpful feedback as I sought to develop the ideas presented here. Many others, including readers, also have helped me develop my thoughts. From lively exchanges to highly critical feedback, I have benefited particularly from the input of the following people: Michael Bader, Harry Brighouse, Jessica McCrory Calarco, Dalton Conley, Maia Cucchiara, Andrew Deener, Mitch Duneier, Frank Furstenberg, Flo Gelo, Michèle Lamont, Ralph LaRossa, Robin Leidner, Katherine McClelland, Bud Mehan, Vanessa Lopes Muñoz, Wes Shumar, Lisa Smulyan, Amy Steinbugler, Karolyn Tyson, Melissa Velez, Pamela Barnhouse Walters, Melissa Wilde, Julia Wrigley, Tina Wu, and my monthly reading group. My editor, Naomi Schneider, aided significantly in moving the project to closure.
It is common for students to be unaware of how much professors learn from them. Students in my courses at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland have given me useful feedback. Andrew Cherlin and Arlie Hochschild both graciously had their graduate classes read the material, which produced many helpful comments. Shani Evans and April Yee provided valuable research assistance, as did Pamela Ellerman, Rebecca Holtz, and, especially, Alina Tulloch. M. Katherine Mooney also has played an exceptional role as friend, critical reader, and editor. As always, my children by marriage, Dillon and Rachel, helped to distract me from the demands of work. My husband, Samuel Freeman, provided laughter and comfort as the project inched forward. Finally, I am very grateful to the families in the study for their many contributions and their willingness, in most instances, to remain in conversation despite moments of difficulty.