This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by LAREAU, A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Social Class and the Daily Lives of Children

A Study from the United States

Temple University, Philadelphia lareau{at}unix.temple.edu

Using ethnographic data of US white and African-American children 7-10 years of age, this study examines the role of social class in shaping the contours of childhood, pace and rhythm of life, and the amount of interweaving between parents' and children's lives. Focusing on middle-class and working-class boys, the results show that middle-class children spend time in activities organized by adults stressing public performance and skill development. Working-class children's lives tend to revolve around informal play, visiting kin and `hanging out'. Middle-class children's activities, while formally leisure, were similar to school activities. There are also parallels between middle-class children's activities and the nature of their parents' work.

Key Words: leisure activities • parenting • social class • socialization

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Jans Children as Citizens: Towards a Contemporary Notion of Child Participation Childhood, February 1, 2004; 11(1): 27 - 44. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. Karsten Children's Use of Public Space: The Gendered World of the Playground Childhood, November 1, 2003; 10(4): 457 - 473. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. K. Nenga Social Class And Structures Of Feeling In Women's Childhood Memories Of Clothing, Food, And Leisure Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, April 1, 2003; 32(2): 167 - 199. [Abstract] [PDF]