You hear from us often about the complexities of poverty and the need for a variety of policy solutions to address the housing crisis, food insecurity, access to justice, and the inaccessibility of adequate healthcare. Poverty and its effects are far-reaching and impact nearly every aspect of a person’s life, at every phase of life. We advocate for policies that will improve health outcomes for expecting parents and babies, provide nutritious meals for children both in and out of school, ensure a living wage for every Missourian, and provide a safety net for aging adults who are more vulnerable to illness and food insecurity. Supporting our neighbors who live in poverty at each of these stages is essential, but today, we want to discuss the experiences of some of our most vulnerable citizens—our children—and the long-lasting impact of childhood poverty.
Thirteen percent of Missourians live below the federal poverty line, a measure that is far too low to adequately represent the number of Missourians who are struggling to meet their basic needs. For our children, that number is 17.4%, and up to 19.3% for children under age five. Those differences are consistent nationally, where the overall poverty rate in 2022 was 12.6%, but the rate of poverty in children was 16.3%, and these numbers have remained consistently high for decades. The causes of childhood poverty are not unique from adult poverty, but expenses associated with raising children can deepen challenges that any family can experience. Job loss, underemployment, or difficulty securing affordable housing are all compounded by rising childcare costs, higher grocery costs, and healthcare needs. Childcare is often the highest monthly expense in a Missouri family’s budget.
While the impact of living in poverty is complicated and profound for every person, it’s worth noting the extreme and long-lasting consequences of poverty during the childhood years. By only one year old, a child living in poverty is already likely to be behind middle-class peers in speech and language, and educational gaps only widen as a child nears school age. The National Association of Secondary School Principals found that students living in poverty face far more challenges than their peers. These kids report stress at home and have limited access to resources such as high-speed internet and other technology outside of school. Their parents work longer hours, and teens in these households also work longer hours than their peers. We know that schools in higher poverty communities are more likely to be under-resourced, providing students with fewer educational opportunities. And while families with young children are at higher risk of eviction, housing instability compounds educational delays and behavioral challenges.
In addition to educational impacts, childhood poverty is associated with developmental delays, nutritional deficiencies, y chronic illness. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the impacts of poverty and other social determinants of health carry on well into adulthood, affecting physical health, socioemotional development, and educational achievement. Adults who experienced poverty as children are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes, as well as develop memory deficits.
Coupled with the long-term negative consequences of poverty during childhood is an increased difficulty of reaching economic stability in adulthood. The longer a child experiences poverty, the more likely they are to experience poverty as an adult. The National Center for Children in Poverty studied patterns of poverty in childhood through adulthood and found that people who lived in poverty for over half of their childhood years were five times more likely (45.3%) to live in poverty at age 35 compared to those who spent less than 7 of their childhood years in poverty. With the increased likelihood of healthcare needs and decreased opportunities for education, the cycle only continues as we age. It is clear that problems that are unaddressed in childhood will manifest long into adulthood and throughout a person’s life. While we advocate for support for Missourians in poverty at every stage of life, we must strive for solutions that can help address these issues in childhood and lead to healthier outcomes for the future.
Our upcoming Anti-Poverty Advocates Summit will feature many more examples and opportunities to learn about the complex problem of childhood poverty, and the policy solutions that we are working towards. In addition to our keynote speakers, Andrea Elliott and Merideth Rose, the Summit will feature breakout sessions from the Macarthur Justice Center on juvenile justice and extreme sentencing for youth, a discussion on the impacts of hunger in children from the University of Missouri’s Center for Health Policy, and a demonstration of how to use data to advance policy solutions from Dan Ferris. Although the disparities discussed above represent a daunting and urgent challenge for our state, systems-level change is possible and even inevitable when we build on community strength.
More sessions are still being finalized, and we’ll share details when they are ready, but our Early Bird rate of only $99 only lasts until September 16th!
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