These figures, of which the advocates of reimposing fees are unaware, demonstrate that under the old fee regime, when average participation rates almost doubled and the children of higher professional, farming and business owning parents were doing very well, the children of two groups of parents, often referred to when the need arises as "the backbone of the country," namely, nurses and teachers – ordinary PAYE employees – were making little or no progress. These parents were paying their taxes, were not able to exploit covenants like the higher professional and employer groups and, unlike the farmer group, could not qualify for grants.