The Temporal Dynamics of Childhood Economic Deprivation and Children's Achievement.

Economic deprivation during childhood adversely affects achievement in adolescence and early adulthood. Economically disadvantaged children tend to achieve less than their more advantaged peers on a variety of measures of educational and socioeconomic achievement. Researchers recognize that what matters for achievement is not merely exposure to economic deprivation during childhood but also the temporal dynamics of deprivation. Recent studies have found that the effects of childhood economic disadvantage on achievement depend on the timing of deprivation (early childhood versus middle or late childhood), the sequencing of deprivation (whether family income is rising or falling), and the overall duration of exposure to deprivation. In this article, I describe conceptual and methodological advances in understanding the temporal dynamics of childhood economic disadvantage, and address the implications of these improvements for our knowledge of how deprivation affects children's achievement.