Beyond Income Poverty: Measuring Disadvantage in Terms of Material Hardship and Health

doi:10.1016/j.acap.2016.01.015

Academic Pediatrics

Volume 16, Issue 3, Supplement, April 2016, Pages S52-S59

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2016.01.015 Get rights and content

Abstract

The New York City (NYC) Longitudinal Study of Wellbeing, or “Poverty Tracker,” is a survey of approximately 2300 NYC residents. Its purpose is to provide a multidimensional and dynamic understanding of economic disadvantage in NYC. Measures of disadvantage were collected at baseline and a 12-month follow-up, and include 3 types of disadvantage: 1) income poverty, using a measure on the basis of the new Supplemental Poverty Measure; 2) material hardship, including indicators of food insecurity, housing hardship, unmet medical needs, utility cutoffs, and financial insecurity; and 3) adult health problems, which can drain family time and resources. In this article initial results for NYC families with children younger than the age of 18 years are presented. At baseline, 56% of families with children had 1 or more type of disadvantage, including 28% with income poverty, 39% with material hardship, and 17% with an adult health problem. Even among nonpoor families, 33% experienced material hardship and 14% reported an adult health problem. Two-thirds of all families faced disadvantage at either baseline or follow-up, with 46% experiencing some kind of disadvantage at both time points. Respondents with a college education were much less likely to face disadvantage. Even after adjusting for educational attainment and family characteristics, the families of black and Hispanic respondents had increased rates of disadvantage. Considering income poverty alone the extent of disadvantage among families with children in NYC is greatly understated. These results suggest that in addition to addressing income poverty, policymakers should give priority to efforts to reduce material hardship and help families cope with chronic physical or mental illness. The need for these resources extends far above the poverty line.

Section snippets

Conceptualizing and Measuring Disadvantage

The purpose of the Poverty Tracker is to provide a multidimensional and dynamic understanding of economic disadvantage. Income poverty is an important element of this construct; it is well established that poverty is detrimental for children's development, health, and well-being.1, 2, 3 The poverty measure we use is on the basis of the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics' new Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which is widely considered to be an improved measure of income poverty

Data and Methods

In this article we present data from the baseline and 12-month follow-up waves of the New York City Longitudinal Study of Wellbeing, a representative survey of New York City residents aged 18 years or older. The Columbia University institutional review board reviewed and approved the study.

Results

Of the baseline sample of 2228 respondents, 798 (36%) reported living with a child younger than the age of 18 years and were included in the analyses of baseline disadvantage. Of the 1330 participants who completed the 12-month follow-up survey, 383 (29%) reported living with a child younger than the age of 18 years at baseline and at the follow-up; of these study participants, 10 had moved out of New York City by the 12-month follow-up and were omitted from the analysis, leaving a sample of

Discussion

Our survey of New Yorkers confirms that we would vastly underestimate the extent of disadvantage among families with children if we focused only on income poverty. The share of families experiencing disadvantage is twice as high as the share who experienced income poverty alone. This is because many families with incomes above the poverty line nevertheless experience material hardship and/or have family members who are in poor health. Figures on the dynamics of disadvantage also indicate high

Acknowledgments

Financial disclosure: Funding for this study was provided by the Robin Hood Foundation. The funder had no role in the preparation of this report.

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: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

View full text

Who is Poor?Beyond Income Poverty: Measuring Disadvantage in Terms of Material Hardship and Health

Abstract

Section snippets

Conceptualizing and Measuring Disadvantage

Data and Methods

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgments

Child Youth Serv Rev

Journal of Socio-Economics

The effects of poverty on children

Future Child

The effects of poverty on child health and development

Annu Rev Publ Health

Effect of child and family poverty on child health in the United States

Pediatrics

Waging war on poverty: poverty trends using a historical supplemental poverty measure

J Policy Anal Manage

Cumulative hardship and wellness of low-income, young children: multisite surveillance study

Pediatrics

Income is not enough: incorporating material hardship into models of income associations with parenting and child development

Child Dev

Material hardship and the physical health of school-aged children in low-income households

Am J Publ Health

Children's health status: examining the associations among income poverty, material hardship, and parental factors

PLoS One

Does material disadvantage explain the increased risk of adverse health, educational, and behavioural outcomes among children in lone parent households in Britain? A cross sectional study

J Epidemiol Commun Health

Maternal depression and child psychopathology: a meta-analytic review

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

Maternal depressive symptoms and children's receipt of health care in the first 3 years of life

Pediatrics

Chronicity, severity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms: relationships with child outcomes at age 5

Dev Psychol

Parental major depression and the risk of depression and other mental disorders in offspring: a prospective-longitudinal community study

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Parental depression and anxiety and early childhood behavior problems across family types

J Marriage Fam

Maternal mental health, neighborhood characteristics, and time investments in children

J Marriage Fam

Who is Poor?
Beyond Income Poverty: Measuring Disadvantage in Terms of Material Hardship and Health