Family Income and Child Outcomes

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Family Income and Child Outcomes
With child poverty being investigated by many researchers, the debate between family income inequality and child development has occurred throughout the world. Some people believe that child achievement would not be affected by family income because low-income children could be more motivated to change socioeconomic status. However, several studies suggest that there is an association between family income and child outcomes: as the family income decreases, the child’s future achievement decreases. Many papers also claimed that family poverty has a direct negative influence on children’s futures due to lack of educational opportunities, and resources. Furthermore, children living in poverty are often negatively impacted by their parents’ mental states.
There are opinions that low-income children could succeed through hard work instead of depending on parents. However, due to the competitiveness of scholarships and student loans, it would be very difficult for children who are from poor families to compete with high-income children in post-secondary educational institutions. The tuition fees of well-known universities are quite high. Low-income students would not be able to get into famous universities unless they receive financial support from the government or schools. For example, for the school term 2013-2014, the tuition for attending Harvard University is $38,891 USD (2013). By not being able to pursue higher education, young adults are more likely to face unemployment or low pay. In 2000, Statistics Canada claimed that approximately 40 percent of low-paid workers had less than secondary school attainment level. Also, 45 percent of young laborers had low-paid jobs which...

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...ncial-aid/how-aid-works/cost-attendance. [Last Accessed 2013-11-20].
Labonté, R., Ruckert, A., Caldbick, S. (2013). Income Inequality in Canada: Submission to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/Committee/411/FINA/WebDoc/WD6079428/411_FINA_IIC_Briefs%5CCaldbickSamE.pdf. [Last Accessed 2013-11-26].
Statistics Canada (2013). Average total income by economic family types . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil05c-eng.htm. [Last Accessed 2013-11-26].
Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., Moffitt, T. E., Robins, R. W., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2006). Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 42(2), 381-390. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.381

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