neighborhood poverty had significant effects on chil-
dren’s developmental test scores as early as age three
(beyond the effects of family risks and family income).
Stressful parent-child relationships, social isolation
and shame, and poor neighborhoods are examples of
potential mediators or pathways through which pov-
erty produces negative outcomes for children. Re-
searchers have identified a number of other
mediators of the effects of poverty on children, in-
cluding low-quality child care, inadequate health
care, the inability to provide a rich and stimulating
learning environment in the home, chronic exposure
to violence, and poor parental mental health.
Some of the most impressive research findings on
childhood poverty come from statistical analyses of
large data sets in which pure effects of family income
have been isolated from the effects of other factors
often associated with poverty (e.g., single parent-
hood, low parental education). Duncan and Brooks-
Gunn and their colleagues demonstrated that family
income significantly predicted children’s academic
achievement and ability, even after removing any pre-
dictive power associated with family risk factors that
often go along with poverty. Such findings are partic-
ularly important in invalidating arguments that poor
outcomes for poor children result from other factors
besides income level (e.g., character flaws in families,
negative effects of welfare, low education levels, single
parenting). On the other hand, such an approach to
statistical analyses may also represent an unfair or
overly rigorous test of whether poverty matters for
children. As also noted by Luthar, one will necessarily
underestimate the consequences of poverty if one
eliminates or ignores any influences of poverty that
are also associated with common causes of that pover-
ty (e.g., low parental education, single parenthood).
In the real world, poverty naturally coexists with
other important family risk factors.
Programs for Children Living in Poverty
This review suggests a number of policies and
programs that should be helpful to children living in
poverty. For example, research identifying pathways
for the influences of poverty reinforces the need for
programs designed to provide stimulating learning
environments (e.g., Head Start), to strengthen poor
neighborhoods, to improve the quality of child care
available to low-income families, and to provide men-
tal health services for parents. Robert St. Pierre and
Jean Layzer, researchers with Abt Associates, have
summarized the successes and failures of various pro-
grams designed to improve the ‘‘life chances of chil-
dren in poverty.’’ They conclude that intensive early
childhood programs, with follow-up as children enter
school, can have significant positive effects. In con-
trast, research has failed to demonstrate that parent-
ing education yields positive outcomes for children.
St. Pierre and Layzer suggested that most compre-
hensive two-generation programs (focusing on both
parents and children) have failed because of their er-
roneous focus on coordinating existing services in-
stead of adding intensive programs needed by
vulnerable children. These researchers concluded
that ‘‘without the societal will to make direct and dra-
matic changes in the economic circumstances of low-
income families, policymakers will have to continue to
rely on programs such as the ones reviewed in this ar-
ticle as a second-best solution to helping low-income
families.’’ (St. Pierre and Layzer 1998, p. 19). Overall,
the research on children and poverty indicates that
the most successful programs for producing positive
child outcomes will be those that reduce family pover-
ty.See also: HEAD START; HEALTH INSURANCE
Bibliography
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, Greg Duncan, and Nancy Maritato. ‘‘Poor
Families, Poor Outcomes: The Well-Being of Children and
Youth.’’ In Greg Duncan and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn eds., Con-
sequences of Growing Up Poor. New York: Russell Sage Founda-
tion, 1997.
Duncan, Greg, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. ‘‘Family Poverty, Welfare
Reform, and Child Development.’’ Child Development 71
(2000):188–196.
Hernandez, Daniel. ‘‘Poverty Trends.’’ In Greg Duncan and
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn eds., Consequences of Growing Up Poor.
New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997.
Klebanov, Pamela, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Cecilia McCarton, and
Marie McCormick. ‘‘The Contribution of Neighborhood and
Family Income to Developmental Test Scores over the First
Three Years of Life.’’ Child Development 69 (1998):1420–1436.
Luthar, Suniya. Poverty and Children’s Adjustment. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage, 1999.
Sherman, Arloc. Poverty Matters: The Cost of Child Poverty in America.
Washington, DC: Children’s Defense Fund, 1997.
St. Pierre, Robert G., and Jean I. Layzer. ‘‘Improving the Life
Chances of Children in Poverty: Assumptions and What We
Have Learned.’’ Social Policy Report: Society for Research in Child
Development 12, no. 4 (1998):1–27.
Linda J. AnooshianPREGNANCY
Pregnancy is one of the most important watershed
events in a woman’s life. Some regard the nine-month
gestation as one of the happiest times in their lives,
others as the most arduous test of patience that they
have ever experienced. It is certain, however, that
from both a physical and personal perspective, a
woman is undeniably changed by this event. What fol-
lows is basic information regarding the developmen-
tal changes that the woman and fetus undergo during
the course of a gestation.PREGNANCY 317