How does childhood poverty affect future outcomes of children?

Ayşenur Acar and Bülent Anıl

Hundreds of studies have focused on the measurement of poverty, developed poverty indices and made policy evaluations. However, truly understanding the nature of poverty and developing policies that aim to reduce poverty mostly depend on uncovering the intergenerational linkages of poverty. Using a cross section data obtained from SILC-2011 with a module on intergenerational transmission of disadvantages, we examine whether poverty is transmitted from parents to children. In addition, we analyze the effects of experiencing poverty during childhood on certain future outcomes of children that are closely related to poverty status in the adulthood (such as wage, age for starting work, informality, household size and health status) in Turkey. We find that children growing up in poor economic conditions are more likely to become income poor in the adulthood. This finding shows that there is low intergenerational mobility in income levels in Turkey. Those children start to work at their early ages and earn less, are living in large households. They are also more likely to involve in informal jobs or have a chronicle health problem in the adulthood.

pdf. WorkingPaper#016