How does income affect childhood brain development? | Kimberly Noble 

Growing up in a low income family. I come to realize that you gain a greater understanding to everything around you OR the opposite.

My mother got a ton of child support from her various ex partners, but as a child I walked 2 miles to school and skipped lunch while she bought herself luxury products like iPads. How can you ensure that the money given to these mothers will even be used for the child's benefit?

Growing up poor did affect me. Lack of Confidence, trust, hope. A lot of fear. This all has to be won to achieve something bigger than yourself.

Having taught very poor children and upper middle class children of the same ages in the same city, the difference is huge. I would guess a three-year lag by fifth grade. They need more attention, conversation, read-alongs, more and better food, and field trips and lots of them. If simply raising income works, then throw money at it. Do whatever works.

I grew up poor. Because of this I have to work harder, try harder, struggle more to accomplish the same things my peers just seem to have "handed" to them for less effort. I am at peace with it. It is a fact of life. Because of this struggle my children do not have to live like I did and the cycle is broken.

This is a valid idea to research. To everyone commenting on this and saying that people who are less intelligent tend to be poorer and then genetically have less intelligent children, PLEASE look at the other TED talk where they showed that improving children's family income improved their IQs!

*Poverty affects more than just health. Poor families suffer from increased infant mortality rates. Poverty affects not only children's health, but their growth and development as well.*

Kim Noble: income affects childhood brain development. Aunt Becky: Hold my beer

In the 1960s and 1970s it was called Aid to Dependent Children and did indeed have a positive effect on child development. We can blame Reagan's welfare reform for ending the program and causing the problems addressed in this video.

My mother dropped out of high school, worked minimum wage jobs, and was in and out of jail. My father went to military basic training just to get kicked out and live his life collecting cans and scrap metal to make money. I grew up with a single mother first living in a homeless shelter than in a trailer park making Ds and Fs in elementary school for my mother to just tell me to do better and not do anything about it. She also never made me go to school. I also got severely bullied in school for being poor where it affected my self esteem to this day still. She passed away from lung cancer and I ended up living with my aunt around 11. She was a bit stricter on my grades (but made sure to let me know i wasn't going to go anywhere in life because she didn't like my mother) and I ended up graduating high school. I was determined to get a degree and have a successful career and not end up like my parents. I joined the US Air Force and separated from it to get a degree in Nursing. I am currently making A's in my science classes. Hopefully I will get in to nursing school next year. Just because you grow up poor does not mean you will not be successful.....and if you grow up rich it doesn't mean you will be successful either. Moral of the story......only YOU can decide if you will be successful or not no matter if you were poor or wealthy as a child.

I grew up in a poor family in a developing country. I appreciate this talk very much. I hope you can also have a study on the correlations of parents education in the child's brain development? Is parent's poverty more correlated to brain development than education? And what parent's education or degree of education has a significant effect on the child's brain development?

This talk is very well scripted and delivered. Every point is clear and concise, and every argument is sound. This is a rare achievement.

How in the world did she *completely* ignored the fact, that the genetics exist? She is only looking at the *correlation* between kids intelligence and wealth, however both of these two are *causations* of the parent's intelligence. It's not the money that make kids smart, its the parents genetics. She missed a huge point there.

I'd be curious to know if hearing conversations on TV or in podcasts has a different impact on a child's development as opposed to actually hearing people talking around them.

Great talk, I enjoyed hearing the details. I am going to track the study to see what the results are.

Income level is related to IQ and working attitude. IQ and work attitude pass over within family. This kind of test is overstated.

It is a tough and important question that this study asks. I had the same first thought, is it the chicken or the egg? Are these kids in poverty growing up generally less successful because OF the poverty, or is it the less successful parents passing on the genes that has them in poverty to begin with. I have no idea, hopefully someday someone finds out.

I study physiology and definitely social experiences change our brain, but what if money and most important education for the children and mothers were offered? Putting these children in better schools so they can have better support and opportunities to develop their cognitive and emotional intelligence. Congratulations on the study, hopefully, we will have more answers soon

Its not money but access to valuable education and educated parents that influences the brain development of children. Try taking the money away from wealthy educated parents and give it to uneducated poor parents and see how their respective children turn out.

Giving money to a family in poverty in the hope that children's brain will develop well is apparently not realistic. The most important thing is how those families use the given money and what things or activities they spend on to improve their brain development. Just imagine the money being used on gambling, no way those kids will get improved. The research is somewhat similar to giving money to people and thinking that most of them will have a powerful and muscular physique, but not trying to understand the money is used on buying nutrient-rich food and having enough exercise.

One very important point I may highlight is the impact of generations of poverty on the underprivileged. The immediate impact of improving the income of a poor family may not be highly evident but after two generations there will be remarkable difference because they will be exposed to broader level of experiences like leisure and travel. Parents are the first teachers. Kids lean mostly from their parents. This means economic equality has much higher role towards social justice.

She did not mention nutrition or the quality of interaction with parents and siblings. Growing up with constant hostility can do terrible things to a child's mind and emotional development. Being abused or told one is stupid for years pretty much kills basic trust and makes the child's brain less available for learning.

Tell me that I'm wrong! It's not genes but more of mentality. Yes it's passed down but that all falls on the parent and how they guide their child. If all you tell your kid " we can't afford that, what you think money grows on trees?" Then yeah the child will start to feel helpless. But if you tell them "we can't afford that but if you work hard and study and get a good career, you can make enough money that you can buy what ever you want." What do you think will help a child? It's good parenting, I grew up in a family where my father was disabled and mother worked a minimum wage job and I had two siblings. I am have a successful career in medical sales and my middle brother is soon going to medical school. The youngest is an A student in high school. Don't make excuses.... Encourage your kids, they can do what ever they put their minds to.

Correlation does not mean Causality

Very interesting, would love to know the outcome of this study whenever that may be.

Thank you for taking on this very important research topic. When will your study be complete?

Watched this after reading "Toxic Charity." I would love to see a discussion between her and the author of that. He talks about money being the easy road but not very effective in the long run, and she was on point with that, talking about better education and experiences being hard, and money being the easy answer. Is it really the best? Does it help long term? Maybe helping mom get education so she can improve her own life would be a better idea?

This was a great talk. For so many reason I cannot explain Here, this is very true. I wonder though if some people are predisposed to being garbage and wonder if throwing money at a generational problem will help.

Instead of giving money, teach financial responsibility--don't have children if one can't afford to give them a nurturing environment, teach hard work and education. These values will go further than giving money that could be wasted on bad habits.

I remember, while in my teens, being told by my parents that I had to have my head together with education and career before ever considering having a long-term relationship and children. Perhaps those wisdoms of the early 20th Century need to be taught to modern young adults before they start making mistakes to ruin their children's lives.

Interesting conversation, but I think the conclusion is silly and simplistic. It discourages me that more people on the message board aren't on my side on this one. Growing up poor, I can tell you that there are upsides as well as downsides. Nothing in life is perfect, but I guess I applaud those that are trying to get to utopia....

A safe enviroment and effective resources is key. In order for some areas to obtain these essentials, money can be the solution.

Error! Family structure not the income is the true foundational cause.

I feel environment at home and priorities of learning vs entertainment, use of drugs and alcohol, and the possibility of abuse and neglect is what ultimately jeopardizes the development of children's brains. However, instead of giving mother's more money, elementary and high schools should be teach economics such as taxes, investing, and retirement. Also, I'm confused because shouldn't it be low income families getting more money or giving father's more money? That money should go to educational purposes, and how would this play out that this extra money is in fact going to the childs cognitive development? How is it many people grow up poor and become highly successful? What particular population was this TALK aimed at? Poverty is a problem but giving more money for misuse can do more damage than good and can possibly thwart responsibility and work ethic.

Correlation is not causation. This is a very incomplete study and poor science. Child living in poverty, have many more family issues, on average. Poverty in the US is usually the outcome of other factors that impact children. Parental drug use, No fathers or no father figures, abuse in the family, one or more parent in jail, and so forth. By the way, States provide all the nutritional requirements for infants and young children.

I understand the intent and appreciate the energy and effort towards the issue. I don’t however understand why the solution to increasing the amount of money for these families is a policy issue🧐. Seems more like a financial literacy/financial education issue.

How does brain development affect income and to what degree is it heritable?

So that's why I'm so stupid. Makes sense.

stimulating income may effect the academics or performance of a child but being poor from the beginning or rich are least likely to effect them. All that matters is self determination and desire to come out from poverty.

It isn't being poor itself -- the question is why are the parents poor, and what is the effect of that reason on the child. IOW, more money is only going to keep you from starving. Also, being rural poor is different from urban poor. The urban poor have the height of civilization a few blocks away. The rural poor have a lot less of that and have fewer options, or the options are delayed.

So why didnt she come and talk once her major study has been done? 😃

Great talk and it could be very promising,but the reality is different. Most of the time the mother take the money for herself spend it on drugs leaving the children suffering even more

Do you really need such a long speech to explain that kids in poverty tend to end up lower IQ because they are more likely to be NEGLECTED?!?

I liked her talk, and she definitely shows some interesting correlations, but as she stated more information is needed to establish particular causal connections. Money is no doubt a necessary part of the equation, but I doubt it alone (absent other supporting factors present in affluent homes) would be sufficient to effect more optimal brain development.

I was intrigued up to the point where she says that the solution is giving them money (our money actually, not hers). Say no more!! Easy, isn't it?

Intriguing work!

Well, for me at least this is not the case. I grew up in a poor family and yet I did not just give up and give myself excuses, instead I decided that my life is a ship of my own and am the one who decides how to sail it. Though, it's a matter of faith and confidence in ones self and goals, that's why the majority of children with poor families tend to fail, they tend to think they are lower than the others and they usually live in less sophisticated communities. Am telling you, money alone can't solve this!

That’s using the scientific method right there!!! Well done, scientists!

In Poland, we are 'giving away' money to the poorest families with one child, and to the rest with 2+ children. We are still learning how it affects the kids and society :)

Is there a follow up to this study? Thanks

STOP IT! STOP IT! Stop saying STUPID things like "income affects brain development". It doesn't affect it. It CORRELATES WITH IT. Jesus Christ. And this woman is purporting to be a scientist.

You're mistaking correlation with causation, therefore your proposed solution is flawed. I would argue the lack of brain development of children in poverty stricken households is mostly genetic but is also accentuated by those children learning bad habits from the parents (frequently a single parent) in poverty stricken households. Intelligence is one of the biggest predictors of income in a person's life. Intelligence also has a large genetic component. Furthermore development of intelligence requires the ability to consistently defer gratification. Giving significantly more money to poverty stricken families is a ridiculous idea, rooted in the speaker's ideology. Do you honestly think throwing money at social issues will solve them? Why do you think lottery winners frequently go broke 3 to 5 years after winning? Have you looked at the spending per student data in large poverty stricken communities and compared it to other districts? I know Detroit spends nearly 3x more per kid than my own children's school district, with staggeringly less results. I bet you'll find, if you honestly look at the data, it's not about the money. It's the upbringing, lack of discipline within the house, broken families, peer influence, and poor role models. It's the perpetual victim mindset that poverty stricken families instill in their young that hold them back from learning, applying that knowledge and thus breaking out of the poverty cycle. If there is an invisible hand holding you back, why bother deferring gratification to study? Do you think the mothers you're giving money to will suddenly make better choices as a result? I dont think so. You're just advocating for a socialist redistribution society under the guise of scientific research.

this makes me nervous. im due in 2 months and money isn't something I really have :( I hope she doesn't feel stress cause of that. and I hope she doesn't have to grow up to fast just to help

Intelligent interactions make people more intelligent - children especially so. By intelligence, I don't mean only IQ but also EQ. The real question is how much the extra money alone - without the whole baggage of work to go together with it - will change the parent's behaviors. I can see this going well in 2 ways. 1: the extra money makes the parents more assured -> the child see them -> child imitates them -> Result: The child develops more self-control and is better prepared to dedicate its life towards a goal. 2: the extra money is invested in education for the parent -> parent has an overall improvement(increased confidence; the thought process becomes more clear and refined which is mirrored by a more refined vocabulary) -> child experiences that -> Result: The child's mind gets more refined by being in the presence of more refined adults. I also can see this going wrong, mainly by the parent using the extra money to feed their addictions, gets more degenerated, which results in a less refined thought process and vocabulary and emotional instability, the child experiences that(or rather, doesn't experience a better behavior) and doesn't develop its brain as soon and as much as it otherwise should.

Very interesting topic!

Excellent work. Thank you!

Brain development after birth may also be dictated by genetics as well. Maybe not so smart people tend to be poorer on average because of genetic background.

This would require reworking the social welfare system, which punishes poor people for gaining more income by reducing the level of support provided. So a few hundred bucks a month extra could result in the family losing Medicaid, or food stamps, or heating assistance.

If anyone has any objective critiques to her argument please share them with me in the reply space. I'm curious to know what other people in the STEM field feel she may have left out of the presentation. To begin, correlation does not imply causation. I'd like to see an evaluation that factors of the diets of the participants.

The problem with this approach is even if there is a correlation between poverty and brain development, we don't know the exact nature of the link. Besides, who's to say the mothers won't squander the money they're given on drugs or booze? Another issue is after the sensitive development period of the first few years of life, does the brain loses its developmental advantage after the monetary assistance is cut off? If so, when and to what impact? The problem with this study is we assume brain developmental issues can be fixed by the artificial intervention of income. Is it really true? Isn't brain development more complicated than financial status? This type of socialist intervention of wealth may not be enough to address the complexity of brain development.

I understand not restricting how the money given to the mothers is spent. I also think it would be productive to the study to find out how it was spent.

Interesting point, but I think most of the values come from the families. Coming from a low-income family doesn't mean they aren't smart.

Can't believe that "income" rather than genetic predisposition to have lower IQ is not considered. Could people perhaps be poorer because they are not smart rather than the opposite be true? Seems much more reasonable a conclusion to me.

Why do they say that the head-start program does not give underserved kids a better start? I think they’re only looking a test scores and not test that involve exposure. That does a disservice to the point of the matter.

Interesting how my comment about the impact of single parenthood (out-of-wedlock births) is the #1 Contributing Factor in determining whether-or-not a child grows-up in poverty keeps getting deleted….. Reminder: Facts don’t care about your feelings or political party.

5.54 what is Jurgen Klopp doing in the audience?

Let me correct this for you: How does brain development affect income?

Correlation doesn´t prove causation! It´s that simple.

If you your salery is low, please dont have children. You are only making their life worse and yours even worsen

Good talk, but keep in mind that correlation does not always mean causation. There a many other factors, including genetics

I guess they are not really understanding the stand that such a poor mother would have and they are not taking into consideration the influence of the fathers position, as not being raised by a father increases chances of being criminal or marginalised, despite monetary possessions. Instead they think that those mothers (and fathers) would do the same choices as more privileged people, just because of receiving more money, which from my perspective is erroneous. Many low-income parents actually even make more babies in order to receive more money from the state, so I guess that the real problem isn't the money factor, but the mentality and the value system that such families endorse. Also assuming that everybody is responsible and automatically wants the best for their community is wrong. Many people are not able to see beyond their physical needs, cause they have been working all their life solely to cover them up. How are you gonna change that? it turns out that it is very difficult for them to realize how to best utilize the extra money, cause their brain is wired up in a certain way that may not be beneficial for their childrens development (from a privileged stand of view point). Also to prosper and to become the next Albert Einstein is not in everybody's ambition. Even that mentality, to know that you can become something in your life comes from being privileged. Parents in poor environments are teaching their kids how to survive in poor environments, cause the role of any parent is to make sure to adapt the children to where they are living. So changing their perception about life may be more suiting than to change their income. But not everybody wants to change and that's also another problem. Thus it seems that the problem is far more deeper rooted than income itself. + If you give them money, chances are that, since they're poor and can't control their emotions properly, as Kimberly Noble stated, they probably will just fall into a vicious cycle. Note that there is a difference in receiving money when entitled to it by law and receiving money as granted by some scientific experiment.

How does the child know what the Family income is

More money, better nutrition, bigger brain. Duh!! Lol

I'm wondering if the child is special neuro plasticity can help the brain. My 16 years old is autistic and non verbal. Im i. Jamaica and in very poor. I eoyneex help with her

And that's why a Freedom Dividend from Andrew Yang would be life changing for our communities! #humanityfirst #yang2020

Most caregivers are responsible and put their children first, the key is to not let people convince you that poor people are different.

Give most Americans $20,000 extra dollars and it all goes to daddy's new pickup, more beer and heavy metal concerts. I worked in public health and it's amazing to find families with barely enough to eat and no heat, daddy comes home in his shiny new pickup and has figured out how to get the social welfare system to finance his family by never bothering to marry the mother of his children.

All talk with no proof at this stage

Interesting. Perhaps scientists and economists could ponder how to discourage people in poverty from having children that they can't afford.

Why introduce new school policies when u can just give them money

I want to know if you considered the genetic factor here.

Although the brain studies are new, the correlation between family income and cognition was well known when I was a child over fifty years ago. My kindergarten teacher already knew there was a difference.

If those poor children don't get healthy environment at home, the money given would go waste. Psychological aid along with financial aid, might help more to achieve the desired results.

give a man a fish, he eats for one day. teach a man to fish, he eats for the rest of his life.

How do I sign up for this study? I just had a babe!

Placing free money into the hands of a poor parent does not mean they will spend it well or in a way that benefits their child/ren. Nice idea in theory but entirely too passive to warrant true, actionable data.

oh no, this is really stupid. I mean, even if your results will prove poverty is a reason of lower IQ, what are you going to do about it ? I lived in poverty and i think stress is the worst, as a kid your relationship with parents are the strongest so you want to help them out but don't know how. Parents are also tired, angry, stressed what is affecting they behaviour in home. But what you are talking about its not rocket science. its common knowledge. 80% of the people posess 20% of goods and 20% posess 80% goods. its all around the world, economic rule that is not going to change, it's like giving money for starving children in Africa, helps only in short-term period of time.

Gina Linetti?

They should do study in adopted children

What about the "poor mentality" that people (often rich, conservative people) say is at the root of their poverty?

I don't think this is accurate. Definitely does not apply to all. You can have exceptionally excellent and unique vocabulary, speak several languages fluently, yet come from very poor family where parents did not give single rats patootie whether you are exceeding at anything or if you are well fed. You might be a great at learning from listening and you remember things that interest you (quantum physics or biology.. Whatever.. ), attentively memorizing all first time you hear it, without repeatetive reading on the topic. You might also experience heightened attention to visual stimuli, yet have a really hard time focusing on things you find uninspiring or useless in your future life (advanced maths- nope, thanks a lot! booorrriiing ) and learning those boring subjects is dreadful to you, because you might be prone to getting distracted doing mundane or nonsensical tasks.. But hey, sure it is easier to excel at anything when you have money. Even when someone is not highly intelligent will be able to afford a tutor.. You need to struggle much less, that's for sure...

The way the mothers use the money will be heavily influenced by the fact that they know they'll only get it for a few years. Not a very good way to model a real increase in income.

I am sorry but this correlation is bullshit. I know lot of very brilliant people which grown in poverty and with very poor families. Although, they ended up quite smart. So I think y'all's interpretation should be revisioned. I saw lots of rich kids couldn't do something significant if I compare by ratio.

YangGang2020

America become the greatest country on earth with people living in what is considered 3rd world poverty

So you're saying that when my family is poor I'm biologically determined to become a loser

My older brothers become creative with their abilities. I just don't care about material goods. On the other hand, I hear children with money become spoiled brats.

Correlation does not mean causation..

It’s just that rich people can afford to bribe for their degrees .or have you forgotten?

Yeah, having a baby while poor is the equivalent to torturing a kitten that lives 100 years not just 20.