The mobilisation of economic resources by parents certainly helped my American and British interviewees from affluent backgrounds in the pursuit of educational and occupational success as Goldthorpe's theory led me to expect. They were especially useful in risky situations that might jeopardise advancement. A lack of economic resources, however, did not hold back the interviewees from more modest class backgrounds in either country, somewhat contrary to Goldthorpe's theory. Academic success was, of course, crucial and soft money from various sources made up for the absence of financial assistance from parents not in a position to help out. In other words, the mobilisation of resources increased the probability of academic success although a lack of economic resources did not necessarily limit educational and occupational advancement. That said, the experience of competition for good jobs was much easier for the more affluent and far harsher for those from modest backgrounds. These are the key findings of Chapter 2. This chapter focuses on the interviewees as parents and their accounts of how they were applying or had applied their economic resources to help their kids do well in school and get good jobs. Despite their diverse class backgrounds, the interviewees are now, of course, all in middle-class jobs in medicine and teaching although diversity persists in that the medics would be described as upper middle class by Americans and middle class by the British and the teachers would be described as middle class by Americans and lower middle class by the British.