You're talking about cultures that already value education, hard work, and obedience to elders. I'm talking about Americans. We have less automatic respect for elders, so poor parents have very little credibility with their kids. Poor kids tend to disregard their parents' urgings to get an education -- in the American mentality, you don't get ahead by paying attention to broke-ass chumps. (Kids still unconsciously emulate their parents, but that's also bad news for the lower class.)
Americans are capitalists -- we only do things when we understand the investment and have confidence in the return. The more educated and successful the parents, the more credibility they have, and the more likely their kids are to work hard in school. Plus, the main effect is still emulation, which works in their favor. So the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
It would help if poor kids had some exposure to normal well-off people, but their only exposure is through television, and normal people are frickin' boring on TV and therefore invisible. People glamorous enough to shine on TV tend to be terrible role models.
Americans are capitalists -- we only do things when we understand the investment and have confidence in the return. The more educated and successful the parents, the more credibility they have, and the more likely their kids are to work hard in school. Plus, the main effect is still emulation, which works in their favor. So the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
It would help if poor kids had some exposure to normal well-off people, but their only exposure is through television, and normal people are frickin' boring on TV and therefore invisible. People glamorous enough to shine on TV tend to be terrible role models.