Bootstraps, My Ass
From Krugman:But the fact of the matter is that Horatio Alger stories are rare, and stories of people trapped by their parents' poverty are all too common. According to one recent estimate, American children born to parents in the bottom fourth of the income distribution have almost a 50 percent chance of staying there -- and almost a two-thirds chance of remaining stuck if they're black.
That's not surprising. Growing up in poverty puts you at a disadvantage at every step.
I'd bracket those new studies on brain development in early childhood with a study from the National Center for Education Statistics, which tracked a group of students who were in eighth grade in 1988. The study found, roughly speaking, that in modern America parental status trumps ability: students who did very well on a standardized test but came from low-status families were slightly less likely to get through college than students who tested poorly but had well-off parents.
Labels: Economy, Politics, Poverty
posted by jbrzoska @ 10:56 AM Trackback Link
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