Originally Posted by Bostonian
Originally Posted by Val
The claim is that hard work is resulting in advantages to the kids. My counterpoint is that parental ability to pay has a lot to do with it (hence, pampering/primping/hothousing).
These ideas can be reconciled. Some affluent parents pay people to make their children work harder than they otherwise would, as occurs when I send a child to a math camp or afterschool program. It's strange to call it "pampering". Does anyone say that the Williams sisters became great tennis players because their father "pampered" them from an early age?

I also don't see any real contradiction either. Parental ability to pay (and I would add parental ability to provide tutoring or otherwise impart knowledge) is one component that results in advantages to these kids but their own hard work is also a necessary component.