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Here's How Growing Up in Poverty Hurts American Adults
New research shows stark differences between children who grew up poor and everyone else
A man panhandles for money and food on April 7, in New York City.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
We already know that poverty disproportionately affects children, with about 20 percent of those younger than 18 impoverished versus about 13 percent of adults. New research from the Urban Institute in Washington shows child poverty is actually more common than those headline statistics suggest, and that has consequences for success in adulthood.
Some 39 percent of children are poor for at least one year before they reach their 18th birthday, according to Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow and economist at Urban. For black children, that statistic is 75 percent, compared with 30 percent of whites.