Are Poverty And Poor Academic Performance Connected?

Grim research claims that growing up in poverty has profound effect on young people’s brains and lowers educational achievement by 20%.

20:47 23 July 2015

A shocking new research has found that living in poverty has profound effect on the internal structure of young people’s brains and ultimately destroys their chances of achieving the highest possible academic success.

 

The research, which was conducted by American scientists and which was published in JAMA Pediatrics, claimed that children from poor households suffered a 20per cent drop in educational achievement when compared with their richer classmates.

 

"When compared with their more-advantaged peers, children living in poverty experience less parental nurturing whilst confronting elevated levels of early life stress, increased family instability and greater exposure to violence," the team wrote.

"Their homes are often more crowded and provide less cognitive stimulation."

 

The team carried out magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brains of 389 “typically developing children and adolescents” aged between four and 22. The tests showed that extremely poor children had less grey matter found in crucial parts of their brains.

 

The authors’ wrote: "Circuits in these areas of the brain influence critical processes and skills, including reading comprehension, language usage and associative learning.”

 

"Dysfunction in these processes may significantly effect scholastic and later occupational success."