• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.61-74
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• 2010

The present study sought to examine parent-child relational factors associated with young child's language abilities according to socioeconomic status. To do so, the survey responses of 2,269 parents of 0- to 5- year-olds, taken from research on the Actual Condition of Korean Children and Youth were analyzed. The results were as follows : (1) Low-income families had significantly fewer toys related to literacy than middle and upper-income families. (2) There were fewer instances of parent-child play interactions as well as lower scores of parenting styles and beliefs in low-income families than in middle and upper-income families. (3) Although there was no difference in terms of language abilities from 0- to 1-year-old children according to socioeconomic status, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children from low-income families exhibited significantly lower language scores than children from middle- and upper-income families. (4) Toys related to literacy and parent-child relational factors were positively related to children's language abilities. (5) It can be further argued that toys related to literacy and parent-child relational factors clearly predict children's language abilities.