Noting that there is near universal agreement that children from families with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have access to more of the resources needed to support their positive development than do lower SES children, this monograph examines the myriad questions remaining regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child development from a array of different disciplines and a variety of perspectives. The book is divided into two parts: Part 1 concerns the constructs and measurement of SES, and Part 2, the functions and effects of SES. Each part presents four substantive chapters on the topic, followed by an interpretive and constructively critical commentary. Following introductory remarks, the chapters are: (1) "A Decade of Measuring SES: What It Tells Us and Where To Go from Here" (Margaret E. Ensminger and Kate Fothergill); (2) "Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Child Development: The Hollingshead Four-Factor Index of Social Status and the Socioeconomic Index of Occupations" (Marc H. Bornstein, Chun-Shin Hahn, Joan T. D. Suwalsky, and O. Maurice Haynes); (3) "Off with Hollingshead: Socioeconomic Resources, Parenting, and Child Development" (Greg J. Duncan and Katherine A. Magnuson); (4) "Socioeconomic Resources, Parenting, Poverty, and Child Development among Immigrant Families" (Andrew J. Fuligni and Hirokazu Yoshikawa); (5) "Methodological Issues in Studies of SES, Parenting, and Child Development" (Lois Wladis Hoffman); (6) "Causes and Consequences of SES-Related Differences in Parent-to-Child Speech" (Erika Hoff); (7) "Age and Ethnic Variations in Family Process Mediators of SES" (Robert H. Bradley and Robert F. Corwyn); (8) "Socioeconomic Status in Children's Development and Family Environment: Infancy through Adolescence" (Allen W. Gottfried, Adele E. Gottfried, Kay Bathurst, Diana Wright Guerin, and Makeba M. Parramore): (9) "Moving on Up: Neighborhood Effects on Children and Families" (Tama Leventhal and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn); and (10) "'What Are SES Effects Effects Of?' A Developmental Systems Perspective" (Richard M. Lerner). Each chapter contains references. (KB)