One's socioeconomic class, based on family income, family size and composition, and the educational achievement of the family members, plays a role in the socialization of the child. In addition, the attitudes, beliefs and expectations about literacy and assumptions about children and learning, create and sustain the particular environment of the family. Through the socialization process, family members receive messages that help them adapt to a particular ideology. For example, some families are socialized along middle class lines and may use more school-like models of education than other families. It is believed that those children who are felt to be better prepared for school come from homes with adults who are good readers themselves and regularly read to their children. Their environment also offers routines for sharing books and for adults and children to communicate with each other.

When looking at economic factors, the impact of poverty must be considered. Statistics from the National Council of Welfare (1999) show that women face a significantly higher risk of poverty than men, with 20 percent of all Canadian women living in poverty and women comprising 70 percent of all of those living in poverty. This gender gap in economic status has been labelled the feminization of poverty (McLanahan & Kelly, 1998). Among families, single-parent families have the highest poverty rate of all family types and most single parent households are headed by women (Holyfield, 2002; McLanahan and Kelly, 1998).

In terms of family structure, the negative consequences of growing up in a single parent family are well-documented. Society and social policy can contribute to factors that keep women and their children living in poverty. For example, government programs in Canada only partly support women who must divide their time between caregiving and working outside the home, leaving them with little free time. Holyfield (2002) points out that when welfare recipients obtain a job, they lose their health card¹³ and child care benefits. Many of the part-time jobs, however, are low paying with few benefits; families fall through the safety net and then must struggle to survive. Further, research reveals that living in a household headed by a single mother means that the child has an increased likelihood of reduced school performance, poorer health, and malnutrition compared to those residing in middle class households (Holyfield, 2002).