Children of Incarcerated Parents

prevalence of chronic illness, lead poisoning and other environmental toxins, and
accidental injury or death. Many poor children, especially infants, live in households that
are "food insecure". Low access to proper and sufficient nutrition can lead to both
impaired development and, perversely, obesity and a number of other weight-related
illnesses such as type-2 diabetes. Some findings indicate that poor children, particularly
Mexican-American children, are especially prone to low stature and higher rates of overweight
and obesity. Low birth-weight and malnutrition during childhood have been linked
to low IQ, a higher prevalence of learning disabilities, and other social behavioral
problems.
With regard to risking behaviors like youth sexual activity, smoking, and drug/alcohol
use, there is some disagreement about the negative effects of juvenile impoverishment.
One 1998 study found that "low income was not significant in increasing youth sexual
activity and actually decreased the likelihood of youth drug and/or alcohol problems" but
that spending time with fathers and parental oversight were correlated with reductions in
both types of risk behaviors. Other studies indicate that poor youth are at a much higher
risk for teen childbrearing, less positive peer relationships, and lower self-esteem.
Childhood poverty also has long term economic consequences. Research finds that
children who experienced persistent poverty were far more likely to be poor adults than
their non-poor peers. This childhood effect is not constant, however. Studies find that
33% of Black children who were poor during childhood remained so at ages 25–27, as
compared with just 7% of White children.
Anti-Poverty Programs for Children
Research shows that there are some factors – both systematic programs and large
cultural shifts – that may slow or ameliorate the juvenilization and feminization of
poverty. Martha Ozawa finds that children benefit far more from means-tested, noncash
transfers such as Medicaid, food stamps, housing/rent subsidies, and free or
reduced-price lunch. Children also benefit to a certain degree from means-testing cash
transfers like Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Supplemental Security
Income (SSI), other public assistance payments, and certain veteran's benefits that may
"trickle down" to the child from their parent or guardian.
One major factor, however, in the juvenilization of poverty has been the shift in the type
of benefits regularly available to the poor in the US. Since the mid-1970s the federal
government has been increasingly shifting funding from public assistance programs to
those that can be classified as "social assurance". Danziger and Stern write that "Most
of the increased Federal social spending over the past 25 year [in 1990] is accounted
for by the expansion and indexation of social security benefits and the introduction and
expansion of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Security Income program, all
of which provide benefits disproportionally to the elderly".
Conversely, some factors may actually be working to stem the tide specifically of
feminized poverty. Increased female labor force participation with more commiserate
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