Brief Child Poverty and Adult Success
Caroline Ratcliffe
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One in every five children currently lives in poverty, but nearly twice as many experience poverty sometime during childhood. Using 40 years of data, this analysis follows children from birth to age 17, then through their 20s, to examine how childhood poverty and family and neighborhood characteristics relate to achievement in young adulthood, such as completing high school by age 20, enrolling in postsecondary education by age 25, completing a four-year college degree by age 25, and being consistently employed from ages 25 to 30. Parents’ education achievement, residential stability, and neighborhood quality all relate to adult success.

Research and Evidence Family and Financial Well-Being Tax and Income Supports Research to Action Race and Equity
Expertise Families Wealth and Financial Well-Being Social Safety Net Upward Mobility and Inequality Early Childhood
Tags Racial and ethnic disparities Economic well-being Families with low incomes Wealth inequality Mobility Inequality and mobility Kids in context Children and youth