ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter I argued that culture, represented as skills, habits, and styles, is the crucial link between family background, on the one hand, and educational, occupational and earnings attainment, on the other. But what are the detailed family actions and behaviors that help determine the skills, habits, and styles of their children? In particular, over and above the family's influence on the child's work habits and communicative styles, what is the mechanism by which the family influences the child's development of cognitive skill, particularly reading skill?
