When a child from a disadvantaged background starts school, they generally have a poorer command of language than a child from a privileged background. This disadvantage will hinder their learning throughout their school years, increase their risk of dropping out and have an impact on their future living conditions. However, numerous research studies suggest that this situation can be addressed from early childhood onwards, in particular by providing families in precarious circumstances with more resources to help their very young children.
This study uses a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the SMS Project, run by the charity 1001 mots. This intervention involved sending three text messages a week for seven months, supplemented by phone calls and the delivery of books, with the aim of raising awareness amongst parents from low-income backgrounds about their child’s developmental needs and suggesting ideas for educational activities and games.
Our study shows that the SMS Project has a positive impact on the reading practices of the most vulnerable parents and those with the youngest children. However, this effect remains small and does not extend to the other parenting practices measured. This result could be explained, in particular, by the fact that parents report already being familiar with most of the practices recommended by the programme, leaving little scope for the scheme to encourage them to adopt these practices. These limited impacts on parents explain why we find no significant effects on our measures of child development.
