Word: classes
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...residents of London may come from all walks of life, but early childhood is one of the few times when the classes mix. The free neighborhood baby-massage courses I attended saw migrant mothers and American corporate types bonding over lavender oil and breast-feeding. At our local northwest London playground, my kids share the swing set with Kosovar refugees and the children of hedge-fund millionaires. Government vouchers for day care broke down class stratifications during Nicola's toddler years. Her classmates were the children of cash-strapped single mothers, middle-class professionals and the rich - a few arriving...
...nursery is a false Eden, because class inequalities are already at work. According to a 2007 report by the nonprofit Sutton Trust, cognitive test scores of bright 3-year-olds from the poorest British households drop around 30% by the time the children reach age 5. As kids grow, so does the education gap. The chances for smart-but-poor Britons to reach top universities are slim. A 2006 study for the Bonn-based Institute for the Study of Labor found that Britain had the lowest social mobility of the 12 developed countries surveyed...
...British child who matriculates takes one step nearer to a class ghetto, whether the gated community, the neatly clipped suburb or the council tower block. Nicola's nursery mates are no exception: the Bentley babies have since decamped to schools that charge fees of about $22,000 a year. Those parents pious or savvy enough to attend church have a shot at getting their kids into a state-funded religious school, for decades a refuge of the aspirational classes. Rising private-school fees - up over 40% in the last five years - have triggered a groundswell of faithful behavior...
...Year by year, the embrace of one's class grows tighter. Now six, Julia plays less in the local park, busy as she is with homework, ballet and violin. When Nicola was at nursery, she went to birthday parties in tony private clubs. Uniformed staff served her in a stately ballroom at the Dorchester Hotel. By the time she was three, she had attended probably the most lavish parties she'll ever see, at least while living with...
...study last year found that the average earner in only 13 professions can afford private school for their kids, down from 23 professions in 2002. Perhaps we'll move to an area where the schools are good, free and nondenominational. Even so, Nicola's schoolmates will probably be middle-class like her: the Bristol University study found that poor children are 30% more likely to attend low-scoring schools than equally bright but wealthier kids. As we middle-class parents scrabble to keep our children in the middle class, many of us have opted for academic standards over the chance...