Race, social class, and parental involvement with children's cognitive development

In addressing reproduction of inequality across generations, social scientists often focus on parental involvement with children's schooling and cognitive stimulation in the home. Drawing on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Childhood Development Supplement, we employ structural equation modeling to address how parental involvement differs by social class and race. Findings indicate (1) race and social class have independent additive effects on involvement. Middle-class parents are more involved than working-class parents, who, in turn, report greater involvement than poor parents, while Black parents are less involved than White parents. (2) With increasing social class, White parents are more involved; however, class effects do not exist for Blacks, who are less involved at all class levels. Conclusions and implications for social policy are considered