Paul Krugman and the "P Word"

by: Hershel Sarbin, Child Advocacy 360

“To be poor in America today, even more than in the past, is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child’s brain.”

This was the lead in columnist Paul Krugman’s must-read New York Times February 18 editorial, Poverty is Poison [1]. While Krugman credits the Financial Times for its coverage of the research that prompted his column, he brings it all home to America in a compelling recital of our failures in the War on Poverty.

Herewith just two brief excerpts:

“Neuroscientists have found that “many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development.” The effect is to impair language development and memory—and hence the ability to escape poverty—for the rest of the child’s life.
“To be poor in America today, even more than in the past, is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child’s brain.”

In a recent CFK/CA 360 column, The Real Math of Child Poverty in America [2], I shared my personal experience in appealing for support for community initiatives addressing poverty and children. The issues seem so formidable, and problems so unsolvable that they induce a feeling of helplessness and a waving off of meaningful dialogue. How do we reverse that? Why are we not, as citizens or legislators, galvanized into action by the $500 billion a year that poverty costs our nation?

I took some comfort from a recent conversation at Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) about the role that child poverty will have in their proposed Children's White House Conference in 2010 [3].

I understand that next week’s CWLA 2008 National Conference [4] gathering in Washington will give us some insight into how child poverty will be addressed in the 2010 Conference. I will be at CWLA’s conference next week, and will cover what I hear in future columns.

For More Information:

Read Poverty is Poison [5] by Paul Krugman (New York Times, February 18, 2008).

Connect for Kids' Related Articles:

Marriage as Anti-Child-Poverty Program [6]
A Teen Mom Reaches High [7]
Anti-Poverty Advocates Cheer Minimum Wage Increase [8]
The Changing Face of Child Poverty [9]
Are We Ready to Tackle Poverty? [10]
Choosing Child Poverty [11]
A Hand Up: How State Earned Income Tax Credits Help Working Families Escape Poverty in 2006 [12] (CBPP)

>>Find more in CFK's Family Income & Poverty [13] topic pages.

Hershel Sarbin is the founder and publisher of our partner the Child Advocacy360 News Network and Editor at Large of Connect for Kids.

Source URL:
http://www.connectforkids.org/node/6284

Links:
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html”
[2] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/5761
[3] ”http://www.cwla.org/advocacy/whitehouseconf10.htm”
[4] ”http://www.cwla.org/conferences/ShowConference.asp?CONF=NATIONAL&YEAR=2008” target=”_blank”
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
[6] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/4496
[7] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/3851
[8] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/5332
[9] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/4367
[10] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/3644
[11] http://www.connectforkids.org/node/577
[12] http://www.cbpp.org/3-8-06sfp.htm
[13] http://www.connectforkids.org/taxonomy/term/284