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Tracking Exposure to Child Poverty During the First 10 Years of Life in a Quebec Birth Cohort

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Abstract

Objectives

Early childhood poverty is associated with adult chronic diseases. The objectives of this study were to examine patterns of exposure to poverty during the first 10 years of life in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) cohort according to three measures of poverty and to explore family characteristics associated with different poverty exposures.

Method

Data from 1,334 participants from the QLSCD were collected annually at home from ages 5 months through 10 years. Household income (previous 12 months) and sources of income were recorded at each data round. Poverty status was operationalized as 1) living below the low income cut-off of Statistics Canada, 2) receiving social welfare and 3) being in the lowest quintile of socio-economic status. We plotted trends in the prevalence of child poverty over time. We used latent class growth modelling to identify subgroups with similar poverty trajectories. Duration of poverty according to each measure was computed separately for early childhood, middle childhood, and the entire 10 years of life.

Results

Four trajectories of poverty were identified: stable poor, decreasing likelihood, increasing likelihood, and never poor. The three measures of poverty do not cover the same population, yet the characteristics of those identified as poor are similar. Children of non-European, immigrant mothers were most likely to be poor, and there was a higher likelihood of children from single-parent families to live in chronic poverty during the first 10 years.

Conclusion

A large proportion of children are exposed to poverty before 10 years of age. More effective public policies could reduce child poverty.

Résumé

Objectifs

La pauvreté durant l’enfance est associée aux maladies chroniques des adultes. Les objectifs de l’étude étaient d’examiner l’exposition à la pauvreté durant les 10 premières années de vie dans l’Étude Longitudinale du Développement des Enfants du Québec (ÉLDEQ) selon trois mesures de pauvreté et d’explorer les caractéristiques familiales associées.

Méthode

Les données de 1 334 participants à l’ÉLDEQ ont été recueillies annuellement à la maison de 5 mois à 10 ans. Le revenu annuel du ménage et ses sources ont été documentés à chaque entrevue. Le statut de pauvreté a été opérationnalisé ainsi: 1) sous le seuil de faible revenu de Statistiques Canada, 2) recevoir du Bien-être social, 3) faire partie du plus bas quintile de statut socioéconomique. Nous avons estimé la prévalence de la pauvreté des enfants à chaque âge. La modélisation par classes latentes de croissance a permis d’identifier des sous-groupes ayant des trajectoires de pauvreté semblables. La durée de pauvreté selon chaque mesure a été calculée pour la petite enfance, l’âge scolaire et les 10 premières années de vie.

Résultats

Quatre trajectoires de pauvreté ont été identifiées: pauvreté stable, probabilité décroissante, probabilité croissante et jamais pauvre. Les trois mesures de pauvreté ne regroupent pas les mêmes populations, cependant leurs caractéristiques sont semblables. Les enfants de mères immigrantes non-Européennes sont les plus à risque d’être exposés à la pauvreté alors qu’un plus grand nombre d’enfants de familles monoparentales a vécu chroniquement pauvre durant leurs 10 premières années.

Conclusion

Un grand nombre d’enfants est exposé à la pauvreté avant 10 ans. Des politiques plus efficaces pourraient réduire la pauvreté des enfants.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, P.O. Box 6128, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Louise Séguin MD, MPH, Lise Gauvin PhD & Mai Thanh Tu PhD

  2. Public Health Research Institute of Université de Montréal (PHRIUM/IRSPUM), Montréal, QC, Canada

    Louise Séguin MD, MPH, Béatrice Nikiéma MD, MSc & Mai Thanh Tu PhD

  3. Léa-Roback Research Centre on Social Inequalities in Health, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Louise Séguin MD, MPH & Lise Gauvin PhD

  4. International Network for Research on Inequalities in Child Health (INRICH), Montréal, QC, Canada

    Louise Séguin MD, MPH, Béatrice Nikiéma MD, MSc, Lise Gauvin PhD & Mai Thanh Tu PhD

  5. Research Centre of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (RCUHM/CRCHUM), Montréal, QC, Canada

    Lise Gauvin PhD

  6. Department of Paediatrics, Université de Montréal and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Marie Lambert MD

  7. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Lisa Kakinami PhD & Gilles Paradis MD, MSc

  8. Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Gilles Paradis MD, MSc

Authors
  1. Louise Séguin MD, MPH
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  2. Béatrice Nikiéma MD, MSc
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  3. Lise Gauvin PhD
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  4. Marie Lambert MD
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  5. Mai Thanh Tu PhD
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  7. Gilles Paradis MD, MSc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louise Séguin MD, MPH.

Additional information

Acknowledgements of support: This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Grant Number 00309MOP-123079. Data were collected by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec, Direction Santé Québec. The IRSPUM and CRCHUM received infrastructure funding from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec. LG holds a CIHR/CRPO Applied Public Health Chair on Neighbourhoods, Lifestyle, and Healthy Body Weight. GP holds a CIHR Applied Public Health Research Chair. MTT is funded by a postdoctoral CIHR fellowship (CIHR #181755) and by a Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. These funding agencies were not involved in the study design, data analyses, data interpretation or manuscript writing and submission processes.

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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Séguin, L., Nikiéma, B., Gauvin, L. et al. Tracking Exposure to Child Poverty During the First 10 Years of Life in a Quebec Birth Cohort. Can J Public Health 103, e270–e276 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404234

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