In the U.S.A., approximately 20% children and adolescents live in
poverty and more than double that number live in families
experiencing chronic economic hardship. Those figures are higher
for many ethnically and racially diverse communities in the
U.S.A., and higher still for many other nations, particularly in
the Global South. Growing up in contexts of poverty and economic
hardship exposes children to pervasive and multi-faceted
stressors that may shape their developing neurobiological systems
and psychological adjustment in complex, enduring and
disadvantageous ways.
