
In 1995, the now famous Hart/Risley study was
published on the impact of language on young children, revealing that
low-income children are exposed to 30 million fewer words than their
higher-income peers before age 3. The study, and others that followed,
found connections between poor early literacy skills and lifelong
academic, social and income disparities, leading to a number of
initiatives to help low-income parents understand the importance of
language.