Education and Class

• Poor kids who do everything right don’t do better than rich kids who do everything wrong – The Washington Post

  Gaps between rich and poor can’t be explained only by deficits in language in low-income families or the low-expectations of teachers in low-income schools. Wealthy families will never simply stand still while other people’s children catch up to theirs.

  “What’s going on? Well, it’s all about glass floors and glass ceilings. Rich kids who can go work for the family business — and, in Canada at least, 70 percent of the sons of the top 1 percent do just that — or inherit the family estate don’t need a high school diploma to get ahead. It’s an extreme example of what economists call “opportunity hoarding.” That includes everything from legacy college admissions to unpaid internships that let affluent parents rig the game a little more in their children’s favor.”

  tags: socialclass

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