Socially poorer than peers? : Economic resources and school class friendship relations

Abstract: That a lack of economic resources negatively affects the social relations of children is often assumed, sometimes described, but rarely tested using methods allowing generalization. When addressing this issue, previous research has largely been limited to self-reported data on social relations. This thesis uses peer reported measures of social relations in combination with survey and register data to examine the effect of economic resources on the probability of social isolation and on the number of school class friendships of Swedish adolescents. While not entirely unambiguous, the results indicate that a lack of economic resources negatively affects the social relations of children, at least in regards to the school class social relations of adolescents. The results point to the importance for adolescent’s social relations of having the economic and material possibilities to participate in the social life and in the activities undertaken by peers.