ABSTRACT
Child poverty is one of the strongest predictors of poor outcomes in children. Child poverty and its associated violence have substantial economic costs. It hurts children physically, emotionally, and socially and leaves scars that can last a lifetime. When children experience strong, frequent, or prolonged adversity—such as physical or emotional abuse, chronic hunger and neglect, caregiver substance abuse or mental illness, exposure to violence, or the accumulated burdens of family poverty—the stressful environment can become toxic. Poor children are less likely to have access to affordable quality health coverage. Poor infants and toddlers were nearly 30" less likely to complete high school than children who first experienced poverty later in childhood. Neighborhood poverty is strongly correlated with the quality of public schools and the safety of communities. High poverty neighborhoods often have worse quality housing, more environmental hazards, including higher crime rates, and a lack of healthy food options, all of which impact child health as well as academic success.
