How Can We Reduce Child Poverty and Support Parental Employment?

Abstract

The articles in this supplement illuminate the many ways in which poverty undermines children’s health and well-being. It is the status of parents that determines whether children are poor or not, and parents are undoubtedly the most important people in most children’s lives. Moreover, there are many ways in which governments intervene in the labor market in order to support parental employment. These include (but aren’t limited to) job training programs, income support, child care subsidies, parental leave, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. Hence, it is natural to ask which of these measures is most successful at helping poor children.