There are many factors that affect children and young people’s life chances economically, such as material deprivation, cultural deprivation and cultural capital.
Material deprivation refers to the inability to afford basic resources such as adequate diet, housing, clothing and lack of income. Tanner (2003) states that the cost of the resources for school such as books, computers and uniforms have a disadvantage and a burden on working class families. Working class children may have to use cheap equipment or resources that have been use that has been passed down to them which can have a negative impact on the child’s self-esteem due to bullying. Bullying will then lead to working class children being socially isolated as no one will want to hang out with them which can lead to exclusion form the norms of children’s society. This links to the work of Ridge (2012) who talks about how working-class children are more likely to be bullied by their peers, due to lacking resources, therefore will affect their educational performance.
This affects their life chances as social exclusion, among their peers, could continue into their adulthood which could cause exclusion from society as adults. This will make it hard for them to socialise with other people such as colleagues. Also, having a low income may restrict working class children from wanting to go on to university due to the fear of debt which can reduce their life chances due to them missing out on opportunities.
