eprintid: 10002320 rev_number: 19 eprint_status: archive userid: 587 source: pure dir: disk0/00/00/23/20 datestamp: 2010-03-24 17:23:38 lastmod: 2017-12-07 21:06:46 status_changed: 2010-03-24 17:23:38 type: article metadata_visibility: show item_issues_count: 0 creators_name: Vincent, Carol creators_name: Ball, Stephen creators_id: c.vincent@ioe.ac.uk creators_id: s.ball@ioe.ac.uk title: 'Making up' the middle-class child: families, activities and class dispositions ispublished: pub divisions: B14 note: Copyright © 2007 by BSA Publications Ltd. abstract: In this paper we draw on data collected from a recent qualitative project to highlight the enthusiasm of middle class parents for enrolling their under-5s in ‘enrichment’ activities (extra-curricular creative and sporting classes). We seek to identify the part activities play in parental strategies for class reproduction. We first consider the broader issue of children and consumption, drawing out the way in which consumption and leisure activities are highly classed, and focusing on notions of taste and distinction. Then using examples from the data, we emphasise the sense of urgency and responsibility parents felt concerning their child’s development and the classed and gendered involvement of parents. We conclude that enrichment activities are one response to the anxiety and sense of responsibility experienced by middle class parents as they attempt to ‘make up’ a middle class child in a social context where reproduction appears uncertain. date: 2007 date_type: published oa_status: green language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green full_text_status: public publication: Sociology volume: 41 number: 6 pagerange: 1061-1077 pages: 17 refereed: TRUE issn: 0038-0385 citation: Vincent, Carol; Ball, Stephen; (2007) 'Making up' the middle-class child: families, activities and class dispositions. Sociology , 41 (6) pp. 1061-1077. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10002320/1/vincent2007makingup10061.pdf