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The Importance of Early Childhood Poverty

Social Indicators Research volume 108, pages 87–98 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Most poor children achieve less, exhibit more problem behaviors and are less healthy than children reared in more affluent families. We look beyond correlations such as these to a recent set of studies that attempt to assess the causal impact of childhood poverty on adult well-being. We pay particular attention to the potentially harmful effects of poverty early in childhood on adult labor market success (as measured by earnings), but also show results for other outcomes, including out-of-wedlock childbearing, criminal arrests and health status. Evidence suggests that early poverty has substantial detrimental effects on adult earnings and work hours, but on neither general adult health nor such behavioral outcomes as out-of-wedlock childbearing and arrests. We discuss implications for indicators tracking child well-being as well as policies designed to promote the well-being of children.

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Notes

  1. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032010/pov/new01_100_01.htm.

  2. These data are drawn from Kim and Choi (2008).

  3. These data are drawn from Gornick and Jantti (2010).

  4. Though leveraging experimental data, the analysis itself is not an experiment as families were not randomly assigned across types of treatments.

  5. In fact, the natural logarithm of income is used for these correlations. Using income rather than log income assumes that a $1,000 increment to a poor family’s annual income has the same beneficial effect on a child’s adult outcomes as a $1,000 increment to an affluent family’s income. The logarithmic transformation assumes equal percentage effects. So, for example, the logarithmic model presumes that a 50% (and $5,000) increase in average childhood income from $10,000 to $15,000 has the same effect as the 50% (but $50,000) increase from $100,000 to $150,000. The log income models fit the data considerably better than the income models.

  6. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032010/pov/new01_100_01.htm.

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Acknowledgment

An early version of this paper was prepared for the International Conference on Economic Stress, Human Capital, and Families in Asia: Research and Policy Challenges, which took place June 3–4, 2010 at the National University of Singapore. We greatly appreciate the helpful comments and other assistance from Jean Yeung and Tom Boyce.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Greg J. Duncan

  2. Department of Education, University of California, Irvine, 2001 Berkeley Place, Irvine, CA, 92697-5500, USA

    Greg J. Duncan

  3. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Katherine Magnuson

  4. 1350 University Ave, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Katherine Magnuson

  5. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ariel Kalil

  6. Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th St., Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Ariel Kalil

  7. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Kathleen Ziol-Guest

  8. Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Kathleen Ziol-Guest

Authors
  1. Greg J. Duncan
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  2. Katherine Magnuson
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  3. Ariel Kalil
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  4. Kathleen Ziol-Guest
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Correspondence to Greg J. Duncan.

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Duncan, G.J., Magnuson, K., Kalil, A. et al. The Importance of Early Childhood Poverty. Soc Indic Res 108, 87–98 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9867-9

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Keywords

  • Poverty
  • Economic well-being
  • Early childhood
  • Policy