Children who grow up in poverty are 5 times more likely to be poor young adults: new study
A study shows how childhood poverty casts a long shadow, affecting young Australians well into their 20s and 30s.
A recent study published in The Economic Record reveals that children raised in poverty are five times more likely to remain impoverished as adults. Utilizing data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, researchers analyzed 2,205 individuals whose childhood earnings were observed for at least three years and who had recorded incomes from age 24 onwards.
By defining poverty using a relative income measure, the researchers determined that those raised in households with incomes below the poverty line faced a 22.4 percentage point higher chance of experiencing poverty as young adults compared to those who grew up in households with incomes 150% to 200% of the poverty line. This translates to a 27% risk of early adulthood poverty for those from low-income backgrounds, compared to only a 5% risk for those in the reference group.
The study also found that single-parent families, particularly those headed by women, face compounding pressures that exacerbate the likelihood of persistent poverty into adulthood.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
