The Causes and Consequences of Child Poverty in the United States

This paper analyzes the causes and consequences of child poverty in the U.S. The paper (1) reviews trends in family incomes and poverty, emphasizing the antipoverty effects of economic growth and government policies; (3) discusses poverty and income transfer recipiency among children, emphasizing the diversity of the poverty population and who is aided by income transfers and who is not; (3) analyzes the effects of changes in family structure and family size on parents; (4) reviews the evidence on persistent poverty and welfare receipt and the emergence of an urban underclass; (5) analyzes some important consequences of poverty -- adolescent pregnancy and out-of-wedlock childbearing, infant mortality and low birthweight, and some other consequences of poverty for child health and development; (6) and concludes with an antipoverty agenda for the 1990s which includes income supplementation policies for working poor families with children, welfare reforms for the nonworking poor, and a set of direct service policies that increase access to health, nutrition and educational services.