Low-Income Mothers’ Material Hardship and Children’s Socio-Emotional Well-Being

This working paper examines the relationship between material hardship and child behavior using the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study Data. Researchers analyze if economic and financial hardship associates with child socio-emotional behavior, if certain types of hardship are more associated with socio-emotional outcomes, and if there are strong affects for more recent hardship. Results show that children in homes with more material hardship have more aggression and exhibit more withdrawn and anxious behavior.