Children from poorer families almost a school-year behind
Children from poorer families almost a school-year behind
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Monday, 15, Feb 2010 10:41
By Sarah Garrod.
Children who are among the poorest in the UK are nearly a year behind middle-class children in terms of their language abilities.
A report from the Sutton Trust, an educational charity, found children among the poorest fifth of UK families are 11.1 months behind other children, tested by vocabulary, by the time they reach the age of five.
The charity found good parenting and a supportive home environment emerged as the most important determinants of better test scores at age five, accounting for half of the explained gap between low-income and middle-income children.
The study found that just under half of children from the poorest fifth of families were read to daily at age three. The figure compares to eight in ten of children from the richest fifth of families.
Nearly half of children from the poorest fifth of families were born to mothers aged under 25 and just under two-thirds do not live with both biological parents by the time they are five.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "It is a tragic indictment on modern society that our children's future life prospects depend so much on their family background, not their individual talents.
"These findings are at once both shocking and encouraging - revealing the stark educational disadvantage experienced by children from poorer homes before they have even stepped into the school classroom, but also the potential for good parenting to overcome some of the negative impacts that poverty can have on children's early development."
The Sutton Trust has identified five priorities for a future government that would help to reduce this gap. The charity suggests:
1. Children's centres should offer effective parenting programmes which have been evaluated and proven to work by robust research, and which engage parents/carers and empower them to be their child's first educator.
2. Sure Start early learning practitioners should work in partnership with health professionals to support families, including home visits for the hardest to reach children.
3. Specialised outreach projects should be established as part of the wider Sure Start children's centre provision to improve contact with vulnerable families.
4. New funding the government plans to allocate to extend free nursery education entitlement to three and four year olds should be redirected to provide 25 hours of nursery education a week to two-four year olds from the 15 per cent most disadvantaged families.
5. Access to these extra nursery places should be complemented by automatic access to a proven parenting programme.