More parents below the poverty line are reading with their kids
By Tyler on August 22nd, 2011
The U.S. Census Bureau released some encouraging new data earlier this month showing a big increase in the percentage of children living in poverty who read with their parents.
This is certainly a hopeful statistic at a time when 1 in 5 children in the U.S. live in poverty — and when that number is predicted to rise to almost 1 in 4 by 2014. The stats are coupled with others that shows parents more likely to spend time each week playing with their children, and parents and children more likely to eat meals together as well.
Why the sudden increase in these numbers?
Sarah Sparks at Ed Week dives into the Census figures here (subscription required).
We can’t help but think is has a lot to do with the millions of children and families who have received books over the last decade from groups like Reach Out and Read and Reading is Fundamental (whose funding has just been cut by the federal government!).
I asked our Chief Academic Officer about these numbers last week, and she credited the power of social media, and parents’ ability to seek out and discover advice online and connect with peers through social networks, as a contributing factor.
Why do you think these numbers are trending in the right direction?
(Flickr photo by ripkas)
Posted: August 22nd, 2011 under Books, Education. .
1 comment
Comments
Comparing those living in poverty during robust economic times to those living in poverty during a recession presents certain challenges. Unfortunately, it seems possible that some percentage of otherwise-middle-class parents were driven below the poverty line during 2008, so that “the poor” in 1998 may not have the same social characteristics (broadly speaking) as “the poor” did in 2009. Programs such as RIF have existed for 40 years; social media seem a more compelling argument for what changed in the first decade of the twentieth century, but I would want to see what the data says after the recession has ended before I felt too confident about the numbers.
Comment on August 23, 2011 at 8:19 pm
