Parenting style the key determinant of life chances, says Cameron ...

[Molesworth]

Today David Cameron gave a speech at thinktank Demos as part of their "Character Inquiry". In the speech Cameron refers to research carried out by Demos and makes the following bold claim: "the differences in child outcomes between a child born in poverty and a child born in wealth are no longer statistically significant when both have been raised by 'confident and able parents'."

Policy recommendations include training HVs to assess parent-child attachments and parenting styles.

Details of the inquiry are available here: www.demos.co.uk/projects/the-character-inquiry

And the research paper to which Cameron refers is available to download for free here: www.demos.co.uk/publications/parenting

Actually, it has long been shown that HE is of benefit to both poor and rich children and that the difference between the 2 groups is negligible. HE benefits poor children the most.

Sorry, the difference between rich children and poor children who are HE'd is negligible.

Sorry, but this is rubbish. Does he really think that the career options of an old etonian are the same as those of someone from a sink estate, if both were raised by good parents?

this is a window dressing to hide the disgusting gap between rich and poor in the UK.

Quite right, nighbynight. There are many influences to consider other than just having able parents.
What a load of crap

Ha! Ha!

Our area has no health visitors. Health visitors do purely child protection work. There is no support for post natal depression whatsoever and no developmental checks.

I am sure that most health visitors would disapprove of my parenting style. However my children are happy and healthy so there is nowt they can do about it.

"Sorry, but this is rubbish. Does he really think that the career options of an old etonian are the same as those of someone from a sink estate, if both were raised by good parents?"

It's not saying that it doesn't make any difference but that the key determining factor is parenting, which I happen to agree with.

Both in terms of attitude towards society and education the attitude of the parents will heavily influence the child.

Of course there are exceptions where a child exceeds despite parental indifference or where one still falls short of what they could have done despite great parenting.

However on the whole the most important thing for a child is supportive and involved parents who do things like value education.

So what he is saying is that if you have an IQ of 180 plus good parents you can succeed as well as an old etonian even if you come from a shithole estate?

this is probably true, but most people, whatever their background ARENT exceptional.

and badger, I know both OEs and people from shithole estates, and it is frankly laughable to compare the differences in outcome for their lives.

"this is a window dressing to hide the disgusting gap between rich and poor in the UK."

I think it's criminal that under this government the gap has widened so much in the last decade.

Actually (and I haven't had time to read the studies yet) I think he has a point, if you look at the immigrant families who came to this country with nothing and lived on sink hole estates, you will find the route they took towards their childs education (state secondary schools), the effort they put in, the virtues they enstilled in their children, a lot of those kids are now in law, or doctors, or corporate positions.

Look how well countries such as India and China are doing in educating their children, it is all to do with the parenting and philosphy behind getting a decent education.

I'm with nighbynight on this one.

The policy recommendations are unacceptably big brotherish, and the whole thing feels like an attempt to individualize class and, well, blame poor people for their lot in life

Of course I don't claim that 'character' and parenting are irrelevant to one's life chances, but to focus on these at the expense of tackling the causes of structural inequalities seems absurdly inadequate to my (admittedly pinko) way of thinking.

But atlantis, you are talking about middle class people, who emigrated to Britain, by and large. Are you equating middle class values with good parenting?

What about good parents who happen to be working class?

I think DC is looking down from the top of the pyramid and genuinely has no idea what its like at the bottom. (though I do think that he means well)

Sorry to keep banging on...class as we have it in the UK doesnt exist in China. And loads of intelligent children go without school in India, cos their parents cant afford it.

My parents were poor and I grew up in a shitty little flat but they were supportive and loving and valued education. Their parenting style, however, did not get me out of the crappy failing school I went to though, it could not buy me extra lessons, take me on foreign holidays, pay for driving lessons, give me pocket money so I didn't have to work every weekend as well as study etc. etc.

All standard stuff for loads of the people I came across at university. Maybe I should be grateful I went at all but I had to bloody fight extra hard for it.

Demos is repositioning itself as a right-wing organisation in anticipation of a Tory victory - Richard Reeves has been spouting Tory-flavour stuff for a while now. I wouldn't bet the farm on any Demos-produced research.

That's because if you're at the top of the pyramid it's because you deserve to be and if you're at the bottom it's your own fault.

It's called "meritocracy"

it's system that allows the wealthy to take credit for good luck and disavow any responsibilities to the rest of society while the poor can be despised for being "chavs"

I suspect having supportive, encouraging parents who can help you with your homework and value education is extremely important whatever your family's financial background.

I think it's harder to be that parent if you have literacy/numeracy problems, mental health problems, addiction problems, are worrying all the time about heating, food, clothing your children, have had your own aspirations stripped out of you by decades of poverty.

Not impossible, but harder. And a lot of these things go hand in hand with financial status.

I do think that children from very deprived backgrounds who get to University and/or do well for themselves in their chosen careers are showing exceptional strength of character and should be recognised as such rather than saying - well she did it, why can't everyone else?

bit.ly/6h9ZVl

"There are relatively simple tests of temperament, ideally administered between four and nine months of age." (p.64)

I wonder what these 'simple tests' might involve?

"health visitors could undertake a simple ?parent?child interaction? test to measure warmth, responsiveness and attunement between the parent and child." (p.64)

Damned straight, skidoodle

Corrective viewpoint from Will Hutton in yesterday's Observer (although, to be fair, the the points he makes about public schools also apply to the kinds of comprehensives for which you have to pay half-a-million to get into the catchment).

Yes, rollbauble - I think you were probably better than a lot of those people at your University. You probably grew up with people who were as good as them and won't have got to go.

No meritocracy when your parents' merit buys your privilage.

Economic immigrants by definition have some kind of "get up and go" about them or they wouldn't have left their country of origin to move to the UK (or France, or wherever).

Here in Paris it is quite easy to encounter economic immigrants and the ones with real ambition cram their families into tiny apartments but in plush areas where their children are sure to go to the better state schools, and then the families take advantage of every last opportunity the French state offers to the less well off in order to better their life chances. Quite often the parents work several jobs, including extra jobs for cash.

The families that want to live off state benefits can do that if they want. But then they live on sink estates and their children don't get the same life chances.

Jesus I thought the only good thing about the Tories was that they might butt the fuck out of family life and stop new labour's constant bossy hectoring. But no.