Summary
A study in Nature Human Behaviour finds that children born into poverty in the U.S. are significantly more likely to remain poor as adults compared to peers in Denmark, Germany, the U.K., or Australia.
While childhood factors like education and neighborhoods matter, the study identifies limited government support for adults as the key driver of poverty persistence in the U.S.
Unlike peer nations with robust tax-and-transfer systems, the U.S. provides fewer benefits to poor adults, perpetuating poverty.
Policy changes, such as expanded welfare programs, could significantly reduce intergenerational poverty.
By five years old the stress of poverty is causing lifelong changes to the brain.
They grow up in that environment, and they adapt to it.
It’s called “formulative years” for a reason.
We don’t have a social safety net so much as a social pungee pit.
