In an article on the website Parents, the author, Bob McKinnon, delves into the struggles of talking about social class with your kids. He came from a poverty ridden background, and while his kids are growing up opposite to that, he – like many other parents- finds it hard to talk about the importance of social class.
Quoted in the article, Paul Piff, a UC Irvine psychological science professor and Blum Center researcher, noted that having conversations like these are important to a child’s development. Not only does it give a child a broader perspective on the world, it helps them with “things like perspective taking, empathy, conceptions of privilege [that] are all downstream consequences of the attributions one engages in.”
The article is a good outline for parents to use when starting conversations about social class. McKinnon goes on to quote Esther Perel, a New York based LMFT, in saying how important it is to talk to your kids about your background and where you come from. McKinnon emphasizes here that owning your story is a key factor in being able to help your kids understand societal differences. Beyond this, some other advice includes keeping it simple and relatable, teaching that wealth is not worth, and keeping conversations open and ongoing for as long as the child wants and needs.
If you’re interested in reading the article in its entirety, click here.