Experience of childhood by class and ethnicity

• Social class


  Socioeconomic status of a person or group
• Ethnicity


  Ethnic or cultural background of a person or group
• Children who live in poverty


  Likely to have poor diet, poor housing and therefore various health conditions
• Children from families with the lowest incomes


  Higher incidences of both abuse and neglect
• Marilyn Howard (2001): 'Detailed the above relationship in a study'
• Childhood for poor children

  Toxic and disappearing, according to Sarah Womack (2007)
• A minority of children who grow up in poverty have miserable and desperate lives
• Children of the very rich


  Often educated in boarding schools, have a rather different experience of childhood as they are away from their families and not always happy
• Ethnicity


  Has some impact on the experience of childhood
• Black and mixed-race children are significantly more likely to be in care than white and Asian children
• Minority-ethnic groups more likely to be in lower income brackets


  Both social class and ethnicity influence the experience of childhood
• Asian parents


  Often stricter with girls than boys, influencing both genders' different experiences of childhood, according to research by Julia Brannen (1994)