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cultural attitudes and beliefs that are somewhat independent of economic and social resources that are influencing parents’ practices here? Unfortunately, the size and scope of this study do not permit a clear answer to this question. On the one hand, some poor and working-class parents reported that they wanted their children to have more organized activities, expressed a belief in the importance of listening to children, and felt it was important for them as parents to play an active role in their children’s schooling. In these families, the parents’ practices appeared to be directly limited by their resources. On the other hand, in other families, parents did not view children’s participation in activities as particularly important. Ms. Taylor, for example, “prayed” that Tyrec would not want to play football again; she did not see his involvement in the sport as helping him in any special way.

Other parents were even more dubious. For example, during the parent interviews, the research assistants and I described the real-life schedules of two children (using data from the twelve families we were observing). One schedule was similar to that of Alexander Williams: restricted television, required reading, and many organized activities, including piano lessons (for analytical purposes, the child was described as disliking his piano lessons and not being permitted to quit, neither of which was true for Alexander). Some working-class and poor parents found this scenario unappealing.33 One white, poor mother complained:

I think he, I think, uh, I think he wants more. I think he doesn’t enjoy doing what he’s doing half of the time (light laughter). I think his parents are too strict. And he’s not a child (laughter).

In addition, even parents who remarked that this kind of schedule would pay off “job-wise” when the child was an adult, still expressed serious reservations, as these comments (each from different interviews) show:

“I think he is a sad kid.”

“He must be dead-dog tired.”

“Unless you’re planning on him being Liberace as far as piano . . . I think it is a waste of money . . . I think he is cutting himself kind of short. He’s not being involved with anything as far as friends.”

Thus, the belief systems of working-class and poor parents were mixed: some longed for a schedule of organized activities for their children; others did not. Still, there were a few indications that if parents’ economic and social resources were to change, their cultural practices would shift as well. A number of middle-class children in the study had parents who were upwardly mobile. The parents were middle class, but the children’s grandparents were poor or working class. In some cases, these grandparents objected to the child-rearing practices associated with concerted cultivation. They were bewildered by their grandchildren’s hectic schedules of organized activities, outraged that the parents would reason with the children instead of giving them clear directives, and awed by the intensive involvement of mothers in the children’s schooling. The small number of cases limits generalizing, but the evidence does suggest that it is economic and social resources that are key in shaping child-rearing practices; as parents’ own social class position shifts, so do their cultural beliefs and practices in child rearing. Untangling the effects of material and cultural resources on parents and children’s choices is beyond the scope of this study. These two forces are inextricably interwoven in daily life.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

In his thoughtful book The Price of Citizenship, historian Michael Katz shows that in recent years Americans’ conception of welfare has grown excessively narrow.34 A preoccupation with public assistance to the poor has led Americans to overlook two other important forms of social distribution: social insurance programs and taxation policies. Yet in size and scope, social insurance programs, particularly Social Security and Medicare, dwarf the cost of payments to poor families. Moreover, these programs have been effective in