Poorest children start school 'a year behind in vocabulary'

The Sutton Trust report comments on the educational inequalities between the richest and poorest youngsters and the impact of parenting and a child's home environment on vocabulary.

The findings show that by the age of five, children from the poorest fifth of homes are already 11.1 months behind those from middle-income homes.

And it reveals that reading and library visits are essential for young children – with youngsters who are read to daily and taken to the library regularly being more advanced in their language skills than those who are not.

The study, by Jane Waldfogel, professor of social work and public affairs at Columbia University and visiting professor at the London School of Economics, and Elizabeth Washbrook, research associate at the Centre for Market and Public Organisation at Bristol University, analysed the information on 12,644 British five-year-olds tracked through a survey in 2006 and 2007. It reveals that just under half (45 per cent) of children from the poorest fifth of families were read to daily at the age of three, compared to almost 78 per cent of children from the richest fifth of families.

More than a third of children (37 per cent) from the poorest families have parents without a single GCSE at grade C or above between them, while only one in 12 of the poorest families had a degree-educated parent, compared to four in five of the richest.

And nearly half of youngsters (47 per cent) from the poorest families were born to mothers aged under 25.

The study found that a child at age five with a degree-educated parent is three and a half months ahead of a similar child with parents who do not have a GCSE at grade C or above. Children aged five whose mothers were 25-29 when they were born had a vocabulary three and a half months more advanced than similar youngsters born to teenage mothers.

Almost half of the attainment gap between the poorest and middle income families can be explained by parenting styles and home environment – factors such as reading and trips to museums. Good parenting behaviour, such as reading daily to children or making sure they have a regular bedtime, can have a positive impact on a youngster's vocabulary skills, regardless of their background, the study found.

Comparing children with the same family income, parental style and home environment, those who were read to every day at three had a vocabulary at age five nearly two months ahead of those who were not read to.

And children who were taken to the library monthly between the ages of three and five were two and a half months ahead of an equivalent child at the age of five who did not make similar trips.

Sutton Trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl 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 both shocking and encouraging – revealing the stark educational disadvantage experienced by children from poorer homes… but also the potential for good parenting to overcome some of the negative impacts poverty can have on children's early development."

EVERYDAY READING PROBLEMS

A KEY plank of the Scottish Government's 2007 election manifesto was to target early years in an effort to improve educational standards.

The SNP manifesto said: "Our approach will see a new emphasis on children's early years, with an increase in free nursery education and smaller class sizes in primary schools."

It added: "We will pay particular attention to raising the achievement of the poorest-performing 20 per cent of pupils, with increased early intervention and support."

However, a report by the Labour-instigated Literacy Commission in December estimated that nearly one million Scots have problems with everyday reading and writing. It also claimed 18.5 per cent of children – about 13,000 a year – left primary school without being functionally literate.