Poverty and Its Relevance to Infant Development

According to the 2022 U.S. Census report, 37.9 million people in the United States are currently in poverty (1). The ratio of poverty population to total population varies greatly by race: Hispanic, Black, mixed race, American Indian and Alaska Native populations have much higher ratio values compared to the White population and Asian population (1).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2022 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC).

Early childhood poverty is a risk factor for poor academic achievements, lower future incomes, and poorer adult health associated with brain structure & function differences. 

Take the Baby’s First Year Study as an example.

1000 diverse low-income mother-infant dyads were randomly given monthly large or nominal unconditional cash gifts.

  • Infants in the high-cash gift group had greater brain activity levels at 1 year of age compared to that of infants in the low-cash gift group (2).
  • Early brain activity levels measured by electroencephalography have significant correlation to subsequent cognitive skill development. 

There are significant economic costs of childhood poverty to society. A very conservative estimate in 2018 for the annual aggregate cost of child-poverty related consequences was $1.1 trillion USD – around 5.4 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (3).

Hence, U.S. policymakers should be active stakeholders in anti-poverty efforts specifically supporting infant development as significant investments in early childhood poverty reduction will be very cost-effective for the U.S. economy.

  1. Creamer, J. (2022, September 13). Poverty in the United States: 2021. Census.gov. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-277.html 
  2. Troller-Renfree, S. V., Costanzo, M. A., Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K., Gennetian, L. A., Yoshikawa, H., Halpern-Meekin, S., Fox, N. A., & Noble, K. G. (2022). The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(5). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115649119 
  3. National Academies Press. (2019). 3. Consequences of Child Poverty. In A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty. essay.