ABSTRACT
This chapter examines patterns of variation in students’ experiences of schooling in terms of social class, gender, and regional factors that are closely linked to enduring inequality in access to resources and life chances. It examines the recent debates on childhood poverty, which led to the Act to Counter Childhood Poverty (2013), and programs to address it. While girls’ participation in schooling is comparable to boys at all levels, they make different choices from boys regarding education and careers that tend to limit their future options.
