A growing body of small-scale studies documents that the cognitive and brain development of low-income children differs from that of children in higher-income families. At the same time, a large body of social science research has found disparities by income in measures of children’s achievement, school performance, and learning-related behaviors, such as attention and self-regulation. Developmental scientists agree that poverty is especially likely to shape children’s early development because of the high plasticity and rapid growth of the brain during the first years of life.

Baby’s First Years is the first causal study to test the connections between poverty reduction and brain development among very young children. One thousand low-income mothers and their newborns were recruited in several ethnically and geographically diverse communities. Mothers are receiving either (1) $333 each month ($4,000 each year), or (2) $20 each month ($240 each year), for the first 76 months of the children’s lives, with the first payments occurring shortly after the baby’s birth.

In her talk, "Baby's First Years: A Clinical Trial of Poverty Reduction," senior author of the study and neuroscientist Professor Kimberly Noble will discuss Baby's First Years' recent findings and their implications both for science and social policy. Professor Jane Waldfogel, Professor for the Prevention of Children’s and Youth Problems at the Columbia University School of Social Work and co-Director of the Columbia Population Research Center, will give comments.

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