Confronting Inequality

This book examines the impact of inequality on childrens health and education, and offers tools to help practitioners address that impact across economic, sociological, and psychological domains. All children deserve the best possible future. But in this era of increasing economic and social inequality, more and more children are being denied their fair chance at life. Chapters examine a wide range of studies including exposure to stress and its biological consequences; the impact of federal programs offering access to nutrition for mothers and children; the impact of parental decision-making and child support systems; the effects of poverty on child care and quality of education, parental engagement with schools, parent-child interactions, friendship networks, and more. The book concludes with commentaries from leading scholars about the state of the field, and efforts to help mitigate the effects of inequality for children in the U.S. and throughout the world.