The consistency of these associations is remarkable. In terms of physical health, children who grow up in poor families have 1.7 times higher rates of low birth weight, 3.5 times higher rates of lead poisoning, 1.7 times higher rates of child mortality, and 2.0 times higher rates of requiring a short-stay hospitalization than their more privileged counterparts. In terms of achievement, the correlations are equally bleak. Children who grow up poor are twice as likely as their wealthier classmates to repeat a grade or to drop out of high school, and 1.4 times as likely to suffer from a learning
...more
