6

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

Learning Objective

After reading this chapter and participating in the exercises you will be able to  explain how socio-economic status influences growth and development This meets the NAEYC Standard 1b, 6b and the MA Core Competency 1.A.2 @ Initial & 8.D.12@Initial level.

According to the  2013 report:  The Youngest Americans: A Statistical Portrait of Infants and Toddlers in the United States by Child Trends. Publication #2013-48, many infants and toddlers are beginning life with limited financial resources.  The report presents a profile of children from birth through age eight years and includes information about their health status, access to educational and social service programs, and their families.  Some of the statistics in the report include:

  • 48% of America’s infants and toddlers live in low-income families; 25% live in families below the official poverty line; 13% are in deep poverty
  • Economic disadvantage is concentrated in the families of black and Latino infants and toddlers; 66% of these young children are in low-income families.
  • 24% of black and Latino infants and toddlers live in households that are “food-insecure” (p.1)
  • 24% are raised by a single parent
  • 16% are in the care of grandparents

The statistics above are considered risk factors.  Risk factors can influence infant and toddler development. Inequality and poverty have the largest impact on children’s access to health and education. (Culture and Learning, 2010, p. 6) Researchers have identified that early and chronic poverty are more damaging to child development than is poverty that occurs later in life, or for relatively short spells. A child’s earliest years are a period of rapid and critical brain development influenced primarily by the family. So the family’s economic condition may be more important in shaping children’s ability, behavior, and achievement than conditions later in childhood (Skylar, 2010). Exposure to poverty during infancy and toddlerhood can lead to significant short and long term consequences.

SHORT TERM RISK FACTORS

Poverty conditions can directly and immediately impact physical health. Children in poverty:

  • Experience decreased general health with an increase in death rate from an infectious disease
  • Are vaccinated at lower rates
  • Have increased rates of asthma and anemia.
  • Live with increased rates of parental depression which could lead to risk for abuse and neglect
  • Have an increased exposure to alcohol and substance abuse.
  • Need safe play spaces
  • Have a greater exposure to lead
  • Live in communities with an increased exposure to community and interpersonal violence.

LONG TERM RISK FACTORS

Poverty in the early years has been shown to have an impact on later childhood and adult outcomes, including in education levels, social and emotional health, and physical health. “Lower income infants and toddlers are at greater risk than middle- or high-income infants and toddlers for a variety of poorer outcomes and vulnerabilites, such as later school failure, learning disabilities, behavior problems, mental retardation, developmental delay, and health impairments”. (Skylar, 2010) Some of the long term risks include:

  • More than 1/3 of children from low- income communities enter kindergarten classes already behind their peers and by fourth grade, more than 50% of these children will not meet the standard for reading proficiency. (Connecticut Commission on Children, 2004)
  • Children living below the poverty threshold are 1.3 times more likely than non-poor children to experience learning disabilities and developmental delays. (Brooks-Dunn & Duncan, 1997)
  • Low-income children are nearly 50% more likely to become obese adults than children with more financial resources. (Duncan, Ziol-Guest, & Kahl, 2010)
  • Early experience affects brain development and lays the foundation for children’s development. (Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child)

We know from a wide range of research that imbalances in children’s development and learning related to living in poverty persist and sometimes grow larger over time.  However, there is hope.  Caregivers can change the nature of children’s experiences. To learn more about risk factors and how to reduce their effects learn more about resiliency.

Resiliency

I invite you to watch the 2015 YouTube Video Coping with Early Adversity and Mitigating its Effects—Core Story: Resilience  produced by the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.  The video is described as:

Children are incredibly resilient – the same rapid brain development that occurs in the first few years of life that make young children particularly vulnerable to maltreatment also make those same children particularly receptive to intervention. The concept of resiliency is especially important to keep in mind when working with young children in foster care. This video features experts discussing the process that results in resiliency in young children and the factors that can be put in place to bolster resiliency.

This video was created in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development and is part of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Discussion Guide for Child Welfare developed in partnership with the Center for Early Education and Development.

Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare: http://cascw.umn.edu
Institute of Child Development: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/icd/
Center for Early Education and Development: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ceed/

Reducing risk factors is essential to the healthy development of infant and toddlers.Children experiencing two risk factors were four times as likely to develop emotional and behavioral disorders compared to children not exposed to any risk factor or who were exposed to only one. Children with four risk factors were ten times more likely to develop emotional impairment than those with one or none. Risk factors included marital discord, economic hardships, large family size, parental criminality, parental psychiatric disorder, child welfare involvement, lack of prenatal care, substance abuse during pregnancy, poor temperamental fit between parent and child, substantiated abuse or neglect, and out of home placement.Protective experiences can balance risk factors caused by limited financial resources.

Key Takeaway

The single most common factor for children who develop resilience is at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive parent, caregiver, or other adult.  Resilience requires relationships.

Explore

Read:

Jiang, Y., Granja, M.R., & Koball, H. (2017). Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 3 Years, 2015. New York: National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

 Murphey, D., Cooper, M. and Forry, N. (2013). The Youngest Americans: A Statistical Portrait of Infants and Toddlers in the United States. Bethesda, MD: Child Trends. Publication #2013-48.

 

Zero to Three. (2012) National baby facts . Washington, DC: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families.

 

References

Brooks‐Dunn, J. &  Duncan, G. J. (1997) “The Effects of Poverty on Children.” The Future of Children 7 n(1997): 55‐71, http://futureofchildren.org/.

Connecticut Commission on Children. (2004)  Children and the Long Term Effects of Poverty.  Commission on Children.

Duncan, G. J., Ziol‐Guest, K. M., &  and Kalil, A. (2010)  Early‐Childhood Poverty and Adult Attainment, Behavior, and Health. Child Development, 81, (1),  306‐325.

Sklar, C. (2010) Charting a New Course for Children in Poverty: The Reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program. ZERO TO THREE.

 

Curiosities to Explore

As you reflect on the readings and videos in the chapter, I invite you to ponder these questions:

  • How does income determine what families eat and the activities they choose?
  • Where do families receive assistance such as the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP, formally Food Stamps) or the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (also known as WIC)?
  • What practices support families in poverty?
  • How will you build your “poverty competency”?
  • How will you build resilience for infant and toddlers with  risk factors?

 

 

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Infant and Toddler Education and Care Copyright © 2017 by Dr. Susan Eliason is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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