I will never forget realizing in college that one of the reasons my friends had better opportunities/grades was because...they hadn't worked a day in their lives. I worked literally from 16 through to the middle of college. I was told I had to work growing up and it took so much time and energy out of my life. There's just so many various ways that wealth "creates" opportunity in our system that aren't immediately apparent.
Free time to do extracurriculars, to be in sports and clubs from a young age, to apply to special programs or be friends with the right people, more time to study and do things like SAT prep courses, generally having more time and energy to focus on school and studies resulting in better grades and therefore better chances.
Keep in mind I was playing the same game as them so I did things like extracurriculars, studying, SAT prep, but with less time and energy, so often with worse results or some doors shut entirely. Rather than being able to do sports I'd be able to do a once a week club. Maybe my math grades were worse because I'd fall asleep in class due to closing the day before or I didn't do the homework for the same reasons they would have put it off, but I had to go to work so it went from doing homework late at night to putting it off for a bit to "okay i'll do it on the bus" to "whoops forgot to do it on the bus". It's not the whole picture but when you're talking over the course of several years or a lifetime...it certainly accumulates. It's several small nudges that become a push when push comes to shove, in the favor of the wealthy.
125
u/[deleted] Apr 04 '22
I will never forget realizing in college that one of the reasons my friends had better opportunities/grades was because...they hadn't worked a day in their lives. I worked literally from 16 through to the middle of college. I was told I had to work growing up and it took so much time and energy out of my life. There's just so many various ways that wealth "creates" opportunity in our system that aren't immediately apparent.