Book Description

This study provides an initial assessment of the evidence of the effect of income on child development. It addresses the following: the income fluctuation that children's families experience year to year; the proportion of children that spend time in low income situations and how long; the proportion that leave or enter low income situations; the importance of income in affecting children's outcomes as described by cognitive & behavioural measures; whether income have a different effect on children at different ages or stages of development; and the proportions of these income fluctuations that are related to labour-market changes & to changes in family structure. The study data are drawn from the share file of the first two cycles (1994-95 & 1996-97) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children & Youth. The researchers use cross-tabular analysis to observe the correlation between families' changing economic circumstances and children's developmental outcomes. The analysis then proceeds to investigate the independent effect of income on child outcomes employing a regression model.