Understanding Movement into Poverty and Poverty Persistence over Time

Family's financial well-being has significant impacts on child well-being. Movement into poverty and persistence of poverty over time may have significant consequences for child development. Using logistic regression with data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examined predictors of entry into poverty or poverty persistence over time. Having higher income and working more weeks at child age 3 were associated with lower odds of being in the downward mobility/poverty persistence group. These findings suggest that helping parents gain access to secure employment is critical for movement out of poverty and preventing movement into poverty.