Key idea: Socio-economic status is a sociocultural factor. Poverty affects development mainly through what it does to family life.
How poverty reaches a child
Stress
Money worries and insecure housing keep the family under strain.
Resources
Fewer books, toys and activities; poorer diet.
Parenting
Tired, stressed parents have less time and patience.
Stress · Resources · Parenting
Costello and colleagues (2003) were following children in the Great Smoky Mountains, USA, when a casino opened on a Cherokee reservation and shared its profits with every family. Children whose families rose out of poverty showed fewer behaviour problems.
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Key idea: Most poverty research is correlational. A natural experiment, where income changes for reasons families do not choose, gets closer to cause.
Strengths
- Income changed for reasons outside the family
- Children followed every year
- Shows the route: time and stress
Limitations
- One rural area of the USA
- Anxiety and low mood did not change
- Not every poor child is affected
Protective factors change the effect: a caring adult, a good school or a supportive community help many children in poverty do well (see 3.2.8).
Watch out: Poverty raises risk; it does not decide the outcome. Say what protects children.