DIFFERENCES IN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT OFF SOCIAL GROUPS - SOCIAL CLASS - MATERIAL DEPRIVATION

Material Deprivation

Poor Housing

Poor Diet + Health

  • Poor nutrition affects health - e.g. by weakening the immune system + lowering the child's energy levels
  • This may result in more absences from school due to illness + difficulties concentrating in class

Financial Support + Cost of Education

  • Lack of financial support means that children from poor families have to do without equipment + miss out on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement
  • Poor children have to make do with hand-me-downs + cheaper but unfashionable equipment which can result in isolation/bullying by peers
  • Refers to poverty + lack of material necessities such as adequate housing + income
  • Overcrowding = makes it harder for children to study because there is less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleep from sharing beds or bedrooms
  • Development can be impaired through lack of space for safe play + exploration
  • Families living in temporary accomodation may find themselves moving more frequently + resulting in constant changes of school + disrupted education
  • Child's health in crowded homes are more likely to be worse because crowded homes = greater risk of accidents
  • Cold/damp housing - causes illness
  • Temporary accommodation = families are more likely to suffer psychological distress, infections + accidents which results in more absences from school

Marilyn Howard (2001)

  • Noted that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins + minerals

Richard Wilkinson (1996)

  • Children from poorer homes are also more likely to have emotional/behavioural problems
  • Wilkinson - among 10 year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety + conduct disorders
  • All of which are likely to have a negative effect on the Child's education

Blanden + Machin

  • Found that children from low income families were more likely to engage in 'externalising' behaviour - e.g. fighting/temper tantrums - which are more likely to disrupt their schooling

Fear Of Debt

  • Going to uni involves getting into debt to cover the cost of tuition fees, books + living expenses
  • Attitudes towards debt may deter w/c students from going to uni
  • Increase in tuition fees to £9,000 a year will deter w/c students even more from applying/wanting to attend uni
  • w/c students who do go to uni are likely to receive less financial support from their families
  • Financial factors also restrict w/c students' choice of uni + chances of success
  • Drop out rates are also higher for unis with a large proportion of poor students

Emily Tanner et al

  • Found that the costs of items such as transport, uniforms, books, computers, calculators, sports, music, art equipment, places a heavy burden on poor families

Smith + Noble

Ridge

  • Found that children in poverty take on jobs such as babysitting, cleaning + paper rounds which often had a negative impact on their school work
  • Found that poverty acts as a barrier to learning on other ways e.g. inability to afford private schooling/tuition

Callender + Jackson - Debt adverse

  • Found that w/c students are more debt adverse- meaning that they saw debt negatively + as something to be avoided

UCAS (2012) - applications

  • The number of UK applicants fell by 8.6% in 2012 compared with the previous year

Dianne Reay- part-time work

  • Found that w/c students were more likely to apply to local unis so they could live at home + save on travel costs, but that this gave them less opportunity to go to the highest status universities
  • They were also more likely to work part-time to fund their studies, making it more difficult for them to gain higher-status degrees

A Nation Union of Students (2010)

  • Online survey of 3,863 uni students found that 81% of those from the highest social class received help from home in comparison to 43% of those from the lowest class

London Metropolitan - Drop out rates

  • London Metroploitan Uni = large w/c intake - had 16.6% drop out rates + only 1.5% drop out rates at Oxford where nearly half of students were privately educated prior