Intergenerational Poverty and Pathways to Self-Sufficiency

Poverty rates in Missouri have trended downward in the years since the Great Recession. Recent research has indicated that nearly seven in ten Missouri children born into families in the bottom income quintile are expected to have escaped poverty by adulthood. But what of the poverty that remains in our state? In a pair of essays, Emily Stahly first examines the incidence of poverty across Missouri—particularly intergenerational poverty, in which economic hardship extends from one generation to the next.  She next considers the cost of poverty, not only in terms of lost opportunity for the impoverished, but also in the form of entitlement spending borne by taxpayers. Finally, she examines education as a possible path out of poverty and looks at ways policymakers might remove obstacles along that path. To read the essays, click on the links below.