Publication: The Future of Children: Children and Poverty

• Behrman, Richard E.

This issue of the journal focuses on children and poverty.
Child poverty is common in the United States—21% of all
children were classified as poor in 1995. One child in
three spends at least one year in poverty over his or her
lifetime, and for more than 5% of children, poverty lasts
10 years or more. Most poor children are subject to a
number of risk factors in addition to low family income;
nonetheless, research shows that poverty has selective, but
in some cases quite substantial, effects on child and
adolescent well-being. Poor children not only experience
material deprivation but also are more likely than nonpoor
children to experience a number of undesirable outcomes
including poor health and death, failure in school,
out-of-wedlock births, and violent crime.

Child poverty can be reduced by a combination of policies,
versions of which are currently in place in the United
States, to help families earn more and supplement earned
income with other sources of cash. In addition, the effects
of poverty can be reduced by programs that provide benefits
in the form of goods and services (such as food, housing,
and health care) which are vital to children's well-being.

The evidence suggests that, despite the frequently voiced
sentiment that few programs work, the United States has a
number of effective programs in place that address the
needs of poor children and reduce their numbers, although
more can be done. To garner public support, however,
interventions to improve conditions for poor children
should be consistent with public values that hold society
responsible for (1) meeting basic human needs for those
unable to help themselves and (2) assuring equal
opportunity for all, while also expecting adults to take
personal responsibility for the well-being of their
children.

The articles presented here summarize knowledge and
experience in selected areas that we believe are relevant
to improving public policies in the United States that have
an impact on children and poverty. We hope the information
and analyses these articles contain will further
understanding of the important issues and thus contribute
to reasonable changes in policies that will benefit
children.