How Homelessness and Poverty Affect Childhood Education

Co-founded by Dr. Garey and Tomora Lutreast W. Ellis, Inner Force Tots encourages inner-city kids to be over-achievers. Through this daycare center, students from several Brooklyn communities receive the support they need to overcome high illiteracy rates and poverty. Inner Force Tots also partners with dozens of homeless shelters and temporary housing facilities in the area to ensure developmental and educational programs are continually provided to kids.

The childhood poverty rate is significantly above the poverty rate among other ages. Plus, minority children are much more likely to experience poverty than their white peers. In fact, over half of Hispanic students and almost half of black students attend schools where at least 75 percent of the student population qualifies for reduced-fee and free school meals. Meanwhile, the number of homeless children has been increasing over the past several years.

Homelessness and poverty among children is linked to a greater number of health concerns, such as increasing respiratory infections and more frequent emergency hospitalizations. Further, these conditions affect children’s academic success and experiences. Children who are homeless usually change schools frequently who struggle to stay in school. This is often caused by the instability that is associated with homelessness. Since students don’t have a stable home, they may move around a lot, thus resulting in more school transfers and increasing rates of missing school.

Children who are homeless or living in poverty also developed about four times slower than non-homeless children. There are several reasons why development is delayed in these types of kids, including that they are raised without access to educational materials, hear fewer words, and are exposed to language that is more literal instead of abstract. Motor-visual impairments are also common among children who are homeless or living in poverty, as are emotional-behavioral problems.

Early Childhood Education and Academic Success

Inner Force Tots provides educational child care for urban children between 2 weeks and 5 years old. The organization also serves older children with school vacation care and enrichment through age13. Through a developmentally complete program, Inner Force Tots prepares students for success throughout school years and beyond.

A high-quality early education can significantly increase a child's chances of school success, according to data released by the American Educational Research Association. This data comes from researchers across the United States, who engaged in a meta-analysis of studies that evaluated the impact of services for children up to 5 years old.

Results revealed that early childhood programs reduced students' risk of grade retention by 8.3 percentage points and decreased chances of special-education placement by 8.1 percentage points. Perhaps more significantly, however, the same programs increased students' high school graduation rate by more than 11 points. 

This translates not only to additional evidence for benefits of early education during the school years of middle childhood, but also to proof that the benefits extend well into adolescence. Researchers also emphasize that a reduction in special-education services and grade retention translates to significant decreases in education costs, while increased high school graduation rates raise lifetime earnings for each student by hundreds of thousands of dollars.