The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective study

The idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.

Citation:
Brushe ME, Lynch J, Reilly S, Melhuish E, Mittinty MN, Brinkman SA. The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective study. BMC Pediatr. 2021;21(1):247.

Keywords:
Early childhood development; Inequality; Language; Parent talk; Word gap

Abstract:
The idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.