| Citation: | Lareau, A. (2000). Social class and the daily lives of children: A study from the United States. Childhood, 7(2), 155-171. |
Annotation:
This ethnographic study asks how class might shape childrenÕs lives and interact with other factors, particularly race. It examines the role of social class in the activities and pace of childhood and family life. The researcher found that middle-class children spend time in activities organized by adults. These activities emphasize public performance and skill development, and are somewhat similar to school activities in a way the researcher suggests makes school not a unique experience in their lives. The activities are also somewhat analogous to their parents' work. Working class children, on the other hand, are involved to a greater extent in informal play, visits with kin, and just "hanging out." The children's time use varied by social class with different patterns of waiting, dependence, and synchronicity with their parents. The researcher took an ethnographic approach over three years, involving 88 children ages 7-10 in a white suburban community, an area of a mideastern US city that includes a white working-class neighborhood, and a nearby poor African American neighborhood. The author analyzed data collected from a variety of sources over two months, including interviews of all mothers and most of the fathers, classroom observations, and family observations. The researcher analyzed field notes and tape recordings and identified 3 issues: the "contours of childhood, the pace and rhythm of life, and the degree that parents' and children's lives interweave.Ó The researcher does not describe the methods she used for analyzing the data that were collected, but the ethnographic approach gives us an in-depth window into her subjectsÕ everyday lives.
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