Mexican Children's and Adolescents' Development of Occupational Hierarchy Related to Consumption and Saving

Abstract

Various development studies interested in children's and adolescents' comprehension of social organization and social inequality, have investigated their conceptions about occupations and the social hierarchy and class levels they imply. Nevertheless, little is known concerning their comprehension about occupational hierarchy related to what adults in distinct occupations are able to consume and save. The aim of this study was to analyze this comprehension in order to understand the development of concepts that interweave in children's and adolescents' societal and economic knowledge. 210 subjects between 6 and 16 years of age from urban and rural social backgrounds were sampled. They were individually interviewed with a task about what four persons with distinct occupations consume and save. Subjects' arguments were analyzed and from them, types of answers and categories were elaborated and quantified. The results show age and social background differences related to what subjects think about types of consumption and saving for the occupations that were studied.