Programs and Policies to Reduce Intergenerational Poverty

The impacts of poverty on children are greatest in children’s earliest years and when they experience deep and persistent poverty. Poor children are more likely than their affluent peers to struggle in school, to experience neglect or maltreatment, behavioral problems, and problems in their physical and emotional health and development. Many studies have documented the potential of many policies and programs to reduce child poverty. However, these policies and programs may interact with one another and with economic and demographic circumstances in ways that can be difficult to understand. Psychologists Natacha Blain and Suzanne Le Menestrel are directing a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) consensus study designed to analyze the literature on the determinants of entrenched poverty and the effectiveness of policies and programs designed to address those determinants. This study, designed to complement the 2019 National Academies’ report, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, asks what programs and services can support families and reduce intergenerational poverty? Using a racial-ethnic disparities lens, the study committee will first assess the research on the correlates and causes of poverty from childhood into adulthood. They will then assess the evidence on the effects of major assistance programs, interventions, and education programs on intergenerational poverty. The next step will be to identify policies and programs that could significantly reduce the effects of the key drivers of intergenerational poverty. They will review analyses of program costs, benefits, and efficacy and identify gaps in the research needed to help develop effective policies for reducing intergenerational poverty. RSF Margaret Olivia Sage Scholar Professor Greg Duncan (University of California, Irvine), chair of the committee that authored A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, will serve as chair of this intergenerational poverty study.