Frank Field reported on his Poverty and Life Chances review last week. He understands that parents are the key architects of a fairer (or less fair) society through the role they play in their children’s cognitive, physical and behavioural development. This is why almost all the recommendations of his report are targeted at improving parenting skills: making parenting classes a matter of course for new parents, universal screening for infants’ behavioural and cognitive development and even the suggestion of parenting GCSEs for school children.

Earlier this year, at the launch of Demos’ Character Inquiry, Frank Field and David Cameron spoke about the key finding of our report Building Character, suggesting that although the two are intimately connected, parenting trumps poverty as a predictor of children’s behavioural development. More specifically, parents who combine warm, responsive parenting with clear, consistent rules and boundaries at home are providing a good developmental base for their children, regardless of whether they are on a low or high income.

The implications of this finding are evident in Field’s review: recommendations to improve parenting are more abundant than recommendations to relieve poverty. Demos’ current work on parenting goes beyond measuring and understanding the importance of parenting to life chances. Our upcoming report, The Home Front, considers the pressures on parents, how this impacts on their confidence and parenting, and consequently makes good parenting harder to achieve.

Our researchers used ethnographic methods to understand and observe parents’ everyday lives. ‘Living in’ with families for extended periods of time and getting to know the relationships between parents, children, siblings, neighbours, and friends prompted a realisation that parenting is not happening in a vacuum. Effective parenting is not simply a product of one’s educational background, household income, and age at birth of a first child. Successful and struggling parents come from all walks of life. But socio-economic circumstances can make life harder and undermine good parenting.

The direct effect of poverty on children’s life chances is well understood. But less well understood is the way in which poverty indirectly impacts on children through the pressure it puts on parents. Cramped housing and chaotic home environments undermine consistency, increase conflict at home and can erode parental confidence.

Field is right to focus on improving parenting as a way to improve social mobility. The Government should take a stance on what makes good parenting and should make early years support to parents a matter of course. However, poverty remains a key driver of poor social mobility. The number of families in ‘in-work’ poverty is growing at the same time that financial support for families is diminishing due to the cuts. There are battles to be fought on many fronts.

DPM Nick Clegg will be launching Demos’ new report The Home Front on January 24th

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