Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 11, 101, 103. Enforced corequisite: course 133L. Examination of how poverty influences child development and, ultimately, their income and well-being in adulthood. Overview of poverty and intergenerational mobility in America, looking at historical trends and placing U.S. in international context. To understand why poverty is persistent across generations in U.S., study of economic model of skill formation in childhood. Consideration of existing research exploring how number of factors explain intergenerational persistence of poverty, including parental time, pollution, infant and child health, justice system, neighborhoods, stress, and preschool/education systems. Discussion of evidence on whether various public policies can improve mobility. P/NP or letter grading.

Units: 4.0