Why Low-Income children need books at home
Research demonstrates that having access to a wide variety of reading materials is essential if a child is to grow and develop into a strong reader. The majority of children from low-income families have no books at all in their homes or classrooms, and as a result, direct access to books is extremely limited for these children.
- A recent study (included in the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Vol. 2 edited by Susan Neuman and David Dickinson) shows that while in middle income neighborhoods the ratio of books per child is 13 to 1, in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is 1 age-appropriate book for every 300 children.
- Over 80% of preschool and after-school programs serving children from low-income families have no age-appropriate books for their children.
- Children from low-income families have been exposed to an average of only 25 hours of one-on-one reading time compared to an average of 1,000 to 1,700 hours for children from middle-class families. Frankly, in non-English speaking households, the 25 hour number is probably way too high, since access to children’s books in the home language is very limited.