The impacts of welfare reform on federal assistance to persistently poor children

During the late twentieth century, the US social safety net was transformed to incentivize work by providing generous wage subsidies for low-income workers and reducing federal assistance to able-bodied unemployed adults. Following the transformation and during the economic boom of the 1990s, welfare rolls and annual poverty rates plummeted, especially for children. Despite the economic boom, there were still many persistently poor children living with parents who did not work, and little is known about how the reforms impacted these children's finances. In this paper we compare rates of persistent child poverty before and after the welfare reforms and examine how federal assistance received by persistently poor children changed as a result of the reforms. We find that federal assistance to persistently poor children declined following the reforms, but with divergent results depending on parental employment. While persistently poor children with employed parents benefited from increased income via the Earned Income Tax Credit, those with chronically unemployed parents did not and also experienced substantial reductions in cash welfare and food stamps. These findings demonstrate how persistently poor children fared financially in the years following the reforms and suggest possible implications for the current period of high unemployment.     

The multifaceted nature of poverty and differential trajectories of health among children

The relationships between poverty and children’s health have been well documented, but the diverse and dynamic nature of poverty has not been thoroughly explored. Drawing on cumulative disadvantage and human capital theory, we examined to what extent the duration and depth of poverty, as well as the level of material hardship, affected changes in physical health among children over time. Data came from eight waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study between 2006 and 2013. Using children who were under age 10 at baseline (N?=?1657, Observations?=?13,256), we conducted random coefficient regression in a multilevel growth curve framework to examine poverty group differences in intra-individual change in health status. Results showed that chronically poor children were most likely to have poor health. Children in households located far below the poverty line were most likely to be in poor health at baseline, while near-poor children’s health got significantly worse over time. Material hardship also had a significant impact on child health.     

Income inequality,cultural capital,and high school students' academic achievement in OECD countries: A moderated mediation analysis

This study examines how social context, in this case, income inequality, shapes the role of cultural capital in educational success. First, we revisit the associations between (objectified) cultural capital and academic achievement, and cultural capital's role in mediating the relationship between family SES and academic achievement. More importantly, we explore how national-level income inequality moderates these two relationships. By analyzing a multilevel dataset of 32 OECD countries, a combination of PISA 2018 data and several national indexes, we find that: (1) cultural capital not only has a positive association with students' academic achievement but also acts as a significant mediator of the relationship between family SES and academic achievement in OECD countries; (2) both cultural capital's association with academic achievement and it's mediating role are stronger in more equal countries than in unequal ones. The findings shed new light on understanding how cultural capital shapes intergenerational education inequality across countries with different levels of inequality.     

Improving the measurement of child welfare in the context of intra-household inequality

This study aims to illustrate how to improve the evaluation of child economic well-being and child poverty using the collective approach. International organisations such as the World Bank, OECD and UNICEF have made important efforts in recent years to produce reliable data and to measure poverty according to the most relevant items of household consumption baskets. However, when measuring poverty, it is common practice to assume either that resources are distributed equally within the household or that there are fixed equivalence scales (for example, a child can be counted as 0.5 adults). The methodology based on collective models of consumption overcomes this rigidity by allowing inequality within each household to be taken into account. The method assumes that each household devotes a fraction of resources to children, which can be estimated using the observed expenditure on child-exclusive goods. An example of how child poverty measures can be inaccurately estimated is illustrated through the case of young children in Albania.     

Household and economic factors associated with geographic and school mobility among low-income children

Child poverty has been shown to have lifelong consequences, and several policy interventions have sought to alleviate its effects. However, federal school policy insufficiently addresses ‘out of school’ factors, including high rates of residential and school mobility among poor students. The detrimental effects of school mobility on achievement and classroom behavior have been well documented, but the literature on the household dynamics associated with residential and school mobility among the poor is limited. This study uses detailed administrative data from Oregon's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to provide more information on residential and school mobility among low-income children of early elementary school age. Changes in household composition, income, employment, residential address, and school catchment were analyzed over several years to measure the relationship between mobility and household dynamics. We find that Oregon children from low-income families have high rates of residential and school mobility and that family dynamics rather than economic opportunity appear to increase the probability of moving. We offer several policy recommendations in light of the findings.     

Beyond averages: Child well-being in Kazakhstan

With the majority of poor people now living in middle-income countries and the post-millennium development goals framework taking shape, the issue of inequality has gained prominence in many policy debates. Although detailed assessments of poverty and well-being are crucial for formulating adequate policies, all too often such assessments focus on average outcomes. In this paper we present an analysis of child well-being for Kazakhstan that moves beyond averages in two ways: first, it explicitly reports on the situations of different socioeconomic groups of children in society; second, it applies a method that is diversified by age group and thereby accounts for differences among children across stages of childhood. Kazakhstan illustrates the need for more nuanced and in-depth analyses, given the significant but far from universal economic growth within the country. We find that there are large discrepancies in child well-being outcomes between different regions and that high levels of economic output do not necessarily go hand in hand with improved outcomes in terms of poverty and well-being. We argue that child well-being studies need to be more in depth, thereby ensuring that levels of inequity across socioeconomic groups and between children in different age groups are given due consideration.     

‘What can I do’? Child welfare workers’ perceptions of what they can do to address poverty

Within the field of child welfare, critical questions have been posed about the intersecting issues of child maltreatment and poverty. The study of the quality and nature of this intersection has continued relevance in light of evidence showing the increased likelihood of maltreatment of children living in poverty. Although child welfare workers interact directly with families involved with the child welfare system, the study of workers’ perceptions of whether or not they address families’ poverty and, if so, how they go about it has not yet been conducted. The study presented begins to address this gap. Analysis from individual interviews with 30 child welfare workers revealed that they differed in their perception of whether or not poverty should be addressed by child welfare and how. Findings suggest workers do what they can despite various barriers, including families’ limitations and the fragile US social welfare safety net. Based on the findings, current practice models and policies that impact poverty and child maltreatment reduction are discussed.     

Parent Involvement as Parental Monitoring of Student Motivation and Parent Expectations Predicting Later Achievement Among African American and European American Middle School Age Students

SUMMARY

Parent involvement and parent expectations are fundamental to academic success. However, much of the research has been with elementary school aged children; consequently, we know less about the influence of parent involvement and parent expectations on the academic achievement of middle school students, and we have even less information for African American (AA) students. Do parent involvement and parent expectations have a similar effect on later Grade Point Average (GPA) for European American (EA) and AA middle school youth? Data from 567 AA and EA urban youth who participated in a longitudinal study were used in this analysis. Within group hierarchical regression analyses reveal parent involvement and parent expectations are statistically significant for both groups. However, partial correlations indicate parental involvement represents the highest unique contribution to later grade point average for EA students, and for AA students, earlier educational achievement represents the highest unique contribution to later grade point average. Implications for practice suggest that approaches to increase parent involvement may work well with improving academic achievement of EA youth, while approaches to increase early educational achievement may work well with AA students.     

Reducing child poverty by promoting child well-being: Identifying best practices in a time of great need

Child poverty in the United States persists despite a range of social services designed to reduce poverty rates and improve the economic self-sufficiency of families. The economic downturns resulting in job losses and the housing crisis have converged to create a new group of families who were managing to remain out of poverty prior to the recession but are now slipping into poverty, putting additional strain on services. In light of these pressing issues, this article synthesizes the literature examining child poverty to take a long-range view of the relationship between economic strain, system involvement, and impacts on children and the systems attempting to serve these children. The effectiveness of various policy and program efforts aimed at reducing child poverty rates and/or ameliorating the negative effects of living in poverty is reviewed. The article concludes by suggesting a major shift in focus from reducing child poverty as a singular goal to a comprehensive approach to promoting child and family well-being.     

Schooling,tracking, and inequality

Being poor does not only mean that a child has less money and fewer toys. Poverty is pervasive. It affects diet, nutrition, employment, housing, self-concept, and the entire educational experience. Ironically, Americans have always looked to education as a means of breaking the seemingly endless cycle of poverty. But rather than serve as a great ladder carrying all who climb with concerted effort to social and economic equality, current research suggests some educational structures may actually limit opportunities for certain children. This paper focuses on education in American society and how it may influence inequality . It addresses the question of why students from various social classes differ significantly in academic achievement and it critiques the major theoretical explanations for this difference. Finally, it supports the idea that specific educational structures perpetuate the cycle of poverty by determining educational outcomes and limiting the economic life chances of children. One such educational structure, tracking, or separation by ability, is the focus of this paper. Tracking is a reality in the American school system. Considerable research has revealed class, gender, and race biases with less-advantaged children more often placed in the lower tracks. This paper examines tracking on a national and international basis. It explores various processes within the tracks that limit a child's development and, in turn, have an impact on future economic opportunities. In sum, it examines how tracking may perpetuate the endless cycle of poverty.     

‘I am not poor. Poor children live in Africa’: Social identity and children's perspectives on growing up in contexts of poverty and deprivation in the Netherlands

This study focuses on problems children living in contexts of poverty face in daily life and how they perceive poverty. Findings are based on research with children (8–12 years) from impoverished areas in the Netherlands. Besides the problems as identified by the children, such as the poor quality of playgrounds and the lack of money for activities, we identified a striking paradox, namely the taboo on or denial of poverty versus the pervasiveness of poverty. To understand and handle this contradiction, we reflect on representation of children growing up in contexts of poverty through a social identity framework.     

Neighborhood Poverty and Children's Academic Skills and Behavior in Early Elementary School

Neighborhoods provide resources that may affect children's cognitive and behavioral outcomes. However, it is unclear to what degree associations between neighborhood disadvantage and outcomes persist into elementary school and whether neighborhood disadvantage interacts with household disadvantage. Using data from the 2010–2011 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten Cohort (N = 15,100 children) merged with census data from the American Community Survey, this study examines associations between neighborhood poverty and children's math, reading, and behavioral outcomes at kindergarten and first and second grades. Findings indicate that as tract‐level poverty increases, children's achievement worsens after controlling for child and family characteristics. These associations persist into second grade and are stronger for children in poor versus nonpoor households. Findings suggest that neighborhood disadvantage may contribute to poorer achievement scores, particularly among children with few household resources, but that household disadvantage and other characteristics largely explain behavioral outcomes. Research and policy implications are discussed.     

Early Achievement Gains and Poverty-Linked Social Distress: The Case of Post-Head Start Transition

Public policymakers in West Virginia have an intense interest in early and continuing educational intervention for the poor. In this view, interventions such as Head Start are a good idea, but they start too late and end too soon. Properly executed, early and continuing intervention is expected to provide a basis for later achievement-driven improvements in occupational and income attainments. Rural poverty and its correlates, which manifest and cause social distress in a variety of forms, is then diminished. We report on an evaluation of the West Virginia site of a federally-funded program intended to maintain early achievement gains viewed as crucial in alleviating poverty-linked social distress. Results of the evaluation of Post-Head Start Transition show no achievement gains. This undercuts the rationale for the program. Furthermore, it provides no support for a general policy of early and continuing educational intervention to foster achievement-driven diminution of poverty. It seems reasonable to consider the possibility that achievement rises and falls in response to the prevalence and intensity of social distress. Context determines educational outcomes, not the other way around. Reasons are suggested for this.     

Early Achievement Gains and Poverty-Linked Social Distress: The Case of Post-Head Start Transition

Public policymakers in West Virginia have an intense interest in early and continuing educational intervention for the poor. In this view, interventions such as Head Start are a good idea, but they start too late and end too soon. Properly executed, early and continuing intervention is expected to provide a basis for later achievement-driven improvements in occupational and income attainments. Rural poverty and its correlates, which manifest and cause social distress in a variety of forms, is then diminished. We report on an evaluation of the West Virginia site of a federally-funded program intended to maintain early achievement gains viewed as crucial in alleviating poverty-linked social distress. Results of the evaluation of Post-Head Start Transition show no achievement gains. This undercuts the rationale for the program. Furthermore, it provides no support for a general policy of early and continuing educational intervention to foster achievement-driven diminution of poverty. It seems reasonable to consider the possibility that achievement rises and falls in response to the prevalence and intensity of social distress. Context determines educational outcomes, not the other way around. Reasons are suggested for this.     

Poverty at a Racial Crossroads: Poverty Among Multiracial Children of Single Mothers

Although multiracial youth represent a growing segment of children in all American families, we have little information on their well‐being within single‐mother households. This article examines multiracial children's level of poverty within single‐mother families to identify the degree to which they may stand out from their monoracial peers. Using data from the 2006–2008 American Community Survey (3‐year estimates), we explore the level of racial disparities in child poverty between monoracial White children and monoracial and multiracial children of color. Fully adjusted multivariate logistic regression analyses (n = 359,588) reveal that nearly all children of color are more likely to be poor than White children. Yet many multiracial children appear to hold an in‐between status in which they experience lower rates of poverty than monoracial children of color. The high level of variation across groups suggests that the relationship between race and childhood poverty is more complicated than generally presumed.     

Mitigating the effect of family poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes: The role of school climate in middle and high school

The persistent achievement gap between students from poor families and their peers calls for research that examines risk factors associated with poverty and strategies for promoting resilience. Research demonstrates the impact of school climate on behavior and academic achievement, especially in high-poverty schools. The present study examines associations between family poverty, social supports, students' perceptions of school climate, behavior, and grades. Poverty is associated with poor grades and behavior, while positive perceptions of school climate are associated with positive grades and behavior. Perceptions of school climate moderate the association between poverty and behavior, such that students from poor families who perceive a positive school climate exhibit similar behaviors to their peers from higher income families. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.     

Understanding the link between poverty and food insecurity among children: Does the definition of poverty matter?

This paper examines the association between poverty and food insecurity among children, using two different definitions of poverty – the official poverty measure (OPM) and the new supplemental poverty measure (SPM) of the Census Bureau, which is based on a more inclusive definition of family resources and needs. Our analysis is based on data from the 2001–2011 Current Population Survey and shows that food insecurity and very low food security among children decline as income-to-needs ratio increases. The point estimates show that the associations are stronger as measured by the new supplemental measure of income-to-needs ratio than when estimated through the official measure. Statistical tests reject the hypothesis that poor households' odds of experiencing low food security are the same whether the SPM or OPM measure is used; but the tests do not reject the hypothesis when very low food security is the outcome.     

Families in Poverty in the 1990s: Trends,Causes, Consequences,and Lessons Learned

During the 1990s, poverty rates in the United States remained relatively stable despite a robust economy in which unemployment and inflation were at their lowest points in many years. Approximately 13% of individuals, 11% of families, and 19% of children lived below the poverty line in 1998, a decline of only 1% or less for each of these categories since 1990. These high rates of poverty result in many severe consequences. This essay reviews the research and theoretical and conceptual developments during the past decade, including: (a) a background on how the poverty line was developed; (b) general research themes in the 1990s; (c) the causes of the virtually unchanged poverty rate; (d) the consequences of poverty, particularly for children; and (e) the lessons we have learned from research over the past decade, with some directions for the future.     

Using a Person-Centered Approach to Examine the Impact of Homelessness on School Absences

Brought on by increasing levels of economic vulnerability, homelessness is a pressing issue for our schools. Homeless students often miss an inordinate amount of school days and are thought to fall at the farthest end of a “continuum of poverty.” Theoretically they have worse outcomes than their peers, though the past 20 years of literature have found inconsistencies in these comparisons. Thus the literature suggests analysis to compare types of students based on outcomes rather than demographic categorizations, a person-centered approach. Using this approach, a comparison of the number of absences for homeless students and their housed peers is made through quantile analysis. Using school administrative data collected over one school year for an entire school district we found that homeless students as an aggregate do not miss significantly more days of school than their poorest peers. However, we found homelessness and poverty dramatically increase the number of absences for children who are in the higher percentiles of absences meaning homelessness has a greater impact on those who miss more days of school in general compared to regular attendees. Findings from this study indicate that homelessness may exacerbate problems rather than cause them. Implications for practice are discussed and directions for future study are proposed.     

“Time to Do the Chores?” Factoring Home-Production Needs into Measures of Poverty

Currently, income is the only resource that the government uses to measure poverty. However, in order for a family to maintain an adequate standard of living, its members must have the money and the time to do certain kinds of work in the home, such as child care, food shopping, meal preparation, laundry, housecleaning, and other similar household tasks. In this article, poverty rates are recalculated using a method developed by Vickery (1977) in which time is incorporated as a resource. Findings show that poverty rates increase dramatically when time is incorporated as a resource because working parents, especially single parents, often do not have enough time to perform essential tasks. Data are from the 1985 American Time Use Survey.