KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

This study is designed to identify the influence of family factors on the academic achievement of children of vulnerable families and to suggest ways to promote related policies. To this end, a secondary data analysis of Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey(KCYPS) data was carried out to examine the effects of poverty on children's academic achievement as well as related processes, and to verify the mediating effects of parents' child-rearing attitudes on children's academic achievement. Afterwards, a survey on school-age children of vulnerable families was conducted and a path model analysis on the impact of learning-related individual/family factors and social support factors on academic achievement was conducted.

The results of study are as follows. First, the poverty (family vulnerability) sequentially affects child-rearing attitudes, learning habits, and academic achievement, thereby contributing to the lowering academic achievement of children. Second, family factors also have influence on learning habits and self-esteem, subsequently, on academic achievement. Lastly, it was revealed that more attention is required to the way of approaching vulnerable family issues based on family types, because the level of family capability factor was not influenced significantly by family structure. This results signify that the level of family capabilities and parent-child relationship indices, as well as economic resources and family structures, should be considered all together when determining standards for choosing learning support service recipients. Because even children from two-parent families can produce varying academic achievements according to the level of family capabilities. Based upon the above research results, the following three policies are proposed herein: 1) measures for family empowerment as an environmental factor related to the learning of school-age children of vulnerable families; 2) measures to support children's learning as an individual factor; and 3) measures to improve the system to support school-age children's learning