Introduction In 2000, the United Nations Millennium Summit adopted eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 201 !

"he #irst t$o goals, to eradicate e%treme poverty and hunger and to achieve universal primary education are intimately related! &overty limits the chances o# educational attainment, and at the same time, educational attainment is one o# the prime mechanisms #or escaping poverty! &overty is a persistent problem throughout the $orld and has deleterious impacts on almost all aspects o# #amily li#e and outcomes #or children! "his paper e%amines the mechanisms through $hich poverty a##ects child development and educational outcomes, and interventions that have been e##ective in improving child development and educational outcomes #or #amilies in poverty in both the United States and developing countries! Speci#ically, this paper e%amines' 1( the concepts o# poverty and child development) 2( mechanisms through $hich poverty a##ects child development and educational outcomes, including #amily #unctioning and community processes) *( programs and policies that have alleviated the negative e##ects o# poverty on children+s development and have promoted child development and education) and ,( recommendations #or #uture research, programs, and policies to reduce the negative conse-uences o# poverty and promote universal
education. The paper addresses the global effects of poverty and educational outcomes by including find-ings from both developed and developing countries.

Definition of Poverty
Several controversies occur in the definition of poverty. The first is whether poverty should be de-fined in economic terms, or as part of a broader social disadvantage. The economic definition of poverty is typically based on income measures, with the absolute poverty line calculated as the food expenditure necessary to meet dietary recommendations, supplemented by a small allowance for nonfood goods. However, many poverty researchers use a broader definition suggesting that poor means lac!ing not only material
1

assets and health but also capabilities, such as social belonging, cultural identity, respect and dignity, and in#ormation and education! .ccording to Sen, poverty means capability deprivation! . second di##erence is that some researchers and policy ma/ers see poverty and poverty escape as primarily due to an individual condition, $hereas others #ocus on the social e%clusion #actors $hich prevent groups or categories o# peoples #rom moving out o# poverty! "he multiple #actors are illustrated in a series o# case studies in Voices of the Poor by the "orld #an!. Throughout the %oices of the &oor series people vividly describe multiple, interloc!ing sets of disadvantages that leave them powerless to get ahead. 'xperiences of ill-being including material lac! and want (of food, housing and shelter, livelihood, assets and money)* hunger, pain and discomfort* exhaustion and
2 * $

poverty of time* exclusion, re+ection, isolation and loneliness* bad relations with others, including bad relations within the family* insecurity, vulnerability, worry, fear and low self-confidence* and powerlessness, helplessness, frustration and anger (p. 1,). &overty is a dynamic process, with some families cycling in and out of poverty in a relatively short time, resulting in intermittent rather than persistent poverty. -n a study of ./,/// households in -ndia, &eru, and 0ganda, 1rishna concludes 0p to one-third of those who are presently poor were not born poor* they have fallen into poverty within their lifetimes, and their descents offset the success stories of those that have managed to climb out of poverty (p. 123). The analytic model developed to explain mobility out of poverty consists of interaction between two sets of factors4 1) changes in the opportunity structure, consisting of the dominant institutional climate and social structures within which disadvantaged actors must wor! to advance their interests, and ,) changes in the capabilities of poor individuals or groups to ta!e purposeful actions, that is, to exercise agency. 5gency includes individual assets, such as education and self-confidence, and collective and family assets, such as organi6ation, identity, and having a voice. 7uch of the discussion in this paper refers to the variables under agency of the poor, but the structure of opportunities may have e8ual weight.
$

Definition of Child Development and Educational Outcomes

0hild development re#ers to the ordered emergence o# interdependent s/ills o# sensorimotor, cognitive1 language, and social1emotional #unctioning, $hich depend on the child+s physical $ell2being, the #amily conte%t, and the larger social net$or/! 4ducational outcomes in this paper include school readiness, retention, drop2out, educational achievement, and years o# schooling completed! School readiness re#ers to s/ills children need to pro#it #rom the educational e%periences o# #ormal schooling! School readiness is generally de#ined as a broad set o# s/ills that a##ect children+s ability to learn in school' physical health, motor s/ills, sel#2care, emotional and behavioral sel#2regulation, social s/ills, communication s/ills, pre2academic s/ills, attention, and curiosity and motivation to learn, although some argue that it should be limited to literacy and numeracy s/ills!
3 5 6

Impact of Poverty on Childrens Development and Educational Outcomes

-n all countries, poverty presents a chronic stress for children and families that may interfere with successful ad+ustment to developmental tas!s, including school achievement. 9hildren raised in low-income families are at ris! for academic and social problems as well as poor health and well-being, which can in turn undermine educational achievement.
1/

Developing 0ountries Similarly, in developing countries, children in poverty are at much greater ris/ o# never attending school than $ealthier children, and these di##erences are $ide 7#or e%ample, in a sample o# 50 countries, 128 o# children in the top -uintile o# households never attended school, $hereas *58 o# children in the poorest -uintile never attended school(!13,15 "hese di##erences are more highly related to $ealth and mothers+ education than to urban9rural residence and gender!13 0hildren raised in poverty also achieve less in school! .nalyses sho$ strong positive relationships bet$een socioeconomic status and student achievement across countries, across age levels, and across academic areas o# study!13 :urther, socioeconomic di##erences in achievement scores, o#ten called socioeconomic gradients e%ist $ithin most countries, re#lecting socioeconomic status1related ine-uality in educational outcomes!16 In spite o# the over$helming e##ects o# poverty on children+s education and development, there are many

e%amples o# children in lo$2income #amilies $ho have thrived!20 "$in studies have sho$n the individual variability in adaptation that e%ists even $hen t$o children $ith the same genetic ma/e2up are raised in the same conte%t!21 .doption studies provide a naturalist e%periment o# ho$ changes in children+s primary conte%t, their #amily, can alleviate the negative conse-uences o# poverty! :or e%ample, studies o# ;omanian children raised in institutional care #or the #irst 2 years o# li#e and then adopted into middle2income <ritish #amilies have sho$n that many o# the children achieved academic and social scores consistent $ith U!=! norms!22 "he resilience $hereby some children are spared #rom the negative e##ects o# poverty may re#lect individual di##erences in ho$ #amilies cope $ith poverty or are able to bu##er their children as $ell as individual di##erences in the children themselves!