“History will judge us by the difference we make in the lives of children.” — Nelson Mandela

The Center for American Progress (Jan. 12, 2021) reports that there were 11 million children who were poor in 2019, about one-third of all poor people in the U.S. (www.americanprogress.org). The U.S. Census Bureau (Oct. 4, 2022) reports that the overall poverty rate has dropped to 12.8% but children’s poverty was 16.5% in 2021. Monthly reports by Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy that track monthly progress of poverty rates of children in various demographic groups show white Americans at 10.8%, Blacks at 22.6% and Latinos at 23% in 2023, not significantly different since 2020.

A Harvard study on the brain development of poor and low-income children is germane to the issue at hand. Tracking 11,000 students in 17 states, Harvard researchers found that children in low-income households have “smaller volume of the hippocampus,” a part of the brain responsible for memory and learning (The Harvard Gazette, May 2, 2023). A smaller hippocampus is a predictor of lower academic achievement. It is also sensitive to “chronic stress” and hence mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, that can show up in adolescents. Harvard psychology professor Katie McLaughlin states that research shows that the family’s socioeconomic status affects brain development of children and a “robust safety net may buffer young minds from these effects.”

These research findings do not foretell the inevitability of cognitive abilities and mental health problems among poor and low-income children. In fact, the Harvard study finds that generous social spending tends to reduce the gap in brain development between low- and high-income children. According to McLaughlin, “The magnitude of disparities in brain structure is reduced by about a third, while mental health disparities are cut almost in half.”

An increasing proportion of families with children are headed by women, and unmarried female-headed families have much higher rates of poverty than married couples’ families and even unmarried male-headed families. This poses a challenge to social policy. Children’s poverty rates also vary by racial groups in all states. Black children’s poverty rate was almost three times that of white children in 2019. Hence, we find Black children’s academic performance, on the average, is lower than that of white children.

In 2019, close to 75% of lower-income fourth and eighth graders were not proficient in reading or math compared with less than 50% of higher-income fourth graders and 55% of higher-income eighth graders (www.childrensdefense.org). A National Institutes of Health study (Jan. 6, 2021) finds that Black 10th grade adolescent students in urban and suburban schools in the U.S. have “considerably” lower reading and math scores than white students. This pattern continues in adulthood and results in lower occupational attainment. Poverty is much more of a dominant cause of lower achievement levels than even racial segregation (Washington Post, September 2019). The achievement gaps among different racial groups have been persisting for a long time. The Wall Street Journal (July 4, 2023) reports that this is a “five alarm fire, but most elected officials aren’t responding or even discussing.”

A National Bureau of Economic Research cost-benefit study shows that programs for low-income children pay high dividends. The study included programs such as health, education and job training, cash transfers and in-kind transfers such as housing vouchers and food stamps. It finds especially high returns on investment in health and education programs (preschool and K-12) for children.

Elected officials as well as some bureaucrats are devoting more energy and resources to fighting culture wars in educational institutions than in working on the real educational issues facing the states and the country. The crisis in literacy among low-income and poor children deserves more attention from school leaders in supporting and encouraging teaching fundamental skills to children, rather than creating culture wars in schools by removing books from school libraries and dictating the contents of teaching by qualified teachers.

Innovations and technological superiority of our country in the world depends upon a skilled and educated labor force. Human capital formation requires time; its gradual accumulation in our children generates academic achievement and creativity. This buildup of human capital in adults is the source of innovation and technical change. If poverty in children is not dealt with, human capital formation will suffer, thus deteriorating the progress in innovations and technical change. Hence, we will end up on a low-growth path, a state where the aging population as well as newer generations will face the brunt of the decline in growth. We must vigorously act now to devote sufficient resources to prevent this outcome.

Vijay Mathur is former chair and professor in the Economics Department and now emeritus professor at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio. He resides in Ogden.

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