Satisfactions

Like the more elite parents who were interviewed, middle-class and working — class parents find great satisfaction in raising their children. But these satisfac­tions less often hinge on their relationship with their children than do those described by the professional middle-class parents. Rather, middle-class and working-class parents cherish distinct achievements and personal successes, much as the professional middle-class parents said their own parents did with them. In some cases these are vague, amorphous accomplishments such as “growing up to be a good person.” In other cases they are concrete accomplish­ments along the way to very possible educational success and upward mobility: “[Most satisfying is] watching your child grow up and seeing their accomplish­ments”; “[Most satisfying] is watching my child succeed in school”; “I’m very proud of their accomplishments, seeing them grow and take the steps to being a productive adult that they’re working on right now at this point.”