Even at the age of eight, the world is divided into chavs and chav-nots. Evidence of just how early class attitudes kick in is revealed in a study published today.

Better-off children see their counterparts on disadvantaged housing estates as badly behaved "chavs", going to "rough schools" with unemployed parents who do not care for them. Those growing up on estates regard rich children as "posh", mean, friendless and lacking in fun as their lives revolve around learning and homework.

Young people aged eight to 13 do not see themselves as rich or poor but they have a clear idea of who they are not, say researchers from Loughborough University's centre for research in social policy.

Estate children see poverty as something that involves homeless people or living in the third world while private school pupils see themselves as average rather than affluent. Yet when they talk about other people, rather than their peer group, children are far more antagonistic.

Their view of social differences is part of research into poverty and education funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. It involved 42 eight- to 13-year-olds, mostly white, from an unnamed estate and a private school. The private school children spoke of chavs being at one end of the social spectrum and of rich at the other, with themselves in the middle.

Chavs, with their tracksuits, hoods and baseball caps, were common, if not necessarily poor. Estate children thought rich people were spiteful and greedy, talked differently, lived in different houses and wore designer clothes. All the children stressed the importance of education, free time, a similar range of most valued possessions - including pets, toys and games - and their family and friends. Yet while the private school children were positive about school, felt encouraged by their teachers, and were financially rewarded for their achievements by their parents, the estate children were mainly disappointed, complained about the teaching and associated school with control. They also wanted to protect parents from the extra costs of after-school activities.

The researchers say there is a real need for schools to help children become "less judgmental and hostile" towards their better or worse-off peers. They also warn the government's programme to make state schools have extended days to provide more help and activities for parents and children must be properly thought through. "Children and young people are unlikely to relish the prospect of longer days at school if they are only receiving more of the same."

They also warn that children on estates should not always be assumed to be behaving antisocially when on the street. Limited opportunities for organised activities mean open spaces are vital, they say. "Owing to the nature of their street play, they were often visible and therefore open to sanctions from those in authority and neighbours within the estate," they add.