Childhood and Intergenerational Poverty The Long-Term Consequences of Growing Up Poor

Children growing up in low-income families face many challenges that children from more advantaged families do not.1 These children are more likely to experience multiple family transitions, move frequently, and change schools.2 The schools they attend are less well funded, and the neighborhoods they live in are more disadvantaged.3 The parents of these children have fewer resources to invest in them and, as a consequence, their homes have fewer cognitively-stimulating materials, and their parents invest less in their education.4 The stress of living in poverty and struggling to meet daily needs can also impair parenting.5