Does Income Affect a Child's Education?

Today I noticed a news item from the BBC News on Friday June 27 addressing the question about whether or not income determines a child's life. According to the latest research, Britain is seen as a divided society and a child's chances of success in life do depend on their parents' income. It made me stop and think about our own community here in New York, and the educational charities that I support, such as Children of the City and the Joe DiMaggio Award Committee for Xaverian High. Is the same true here in the U.S.?

In a recent, and first survey of attitudes to inequity sponsored by the Sutton Trust, three quarters of the adults questioned believed the gap between rich and poor in Britain is very large, and 69 percent said that the parents' income plays a big part in determining children's chances in life. But the other 31 percent thought levels of social mobility in the UK were "about right."

Director of Research for the educational charity, Dr. Lee Elliot Major said, "Opportunities in this country remain heavily determined by parental background. A wide range of research places Britain at or near the bottom of the league table of mobility, particularly in terms of the link between children's educational achievement and parental income."

Not unlike the problems in our own country, he continued, "If we are to promote real change, a first step is to recognise that we have a problem and create a consensus on the need for reform."

Our own charity here in Sunset Park, in Brooklyn New York recognized this almost 23 years ago. As you know I have been supporting Children of the City as a Board member, and also on my own website known as Rocco Basile.org.

The poll indicated that one in 10 people in Briton said they had moved from the bottom to the top income bracket in a generation. Seven out of 10 of the 2,000 people polled felt they were either downwardly mobile or static since childhood.

Apparently the prime minister there said that the UK government's vision is to create a Britain where everyone, no matter what their background, can make the most of their potential, and that deprivation and poverty in the long run can only be tackled by changing the aspirations of young people and their parents.

I believe this is actually quite true, based on some of the families that have had success at Children of the City. One example is the Santos family. Son David was just nine years old when a Children of the City outreach counselor visited his family. David made Children of the City his second home, and he began volunteering in the programs when he was a teenager.

David, pictured here with his own family is now 36, David provides tech support for the traders at Goldman Sachs. David credits Children of the City with helping him to learn the principles for success that helped him to rise above the effects of poverty that surrounded him in his youth.

-- Rocco Basile