Home to school transitions for financially disadvantaged children: findings from Growing up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
Diana Smart, Ann Sanson, Jenny Baxter, Ben Edwards and Alan Hayes
Australian Institute of Family Studies and University of Melbourne
Contact Email: diana.smart
aifs.gov.au
This paper presents findings from a study commissioned by The Smith Family and conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, which aimed to identify key influences on Australian children’s school readiness, particularly children in financially disadvantaged households. A large set of child, family and broader environmental factors were found to be related to children’s school readiness. When this set of variables was included together with family financial disadvantage (FD), financial disadvantage was seldom a unique predictor. Nevertheless, children from FD families were more likely to show low school readiness, due to the much higher rates of risk factors evident among this group. There was considerable commonality in the factors related to school readiness for children from FD and non-FD households. School readiness at 4-5 years was a powerful predictor of school achievement and adjustment at 6-7 years, and family FD increased the likelihood of poor literacy progress. Findings are discussed in relation to two models proposed to explain links between FD and low school readiness: the family stress model, which appeared particularly relevant for social and emotional readiness; and the family investment model which appeared salient for learning and cognitive readiness.
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