A poverty experiment shows that extra money can change a child's way of thinking

From what age do you think money begins to influence a child? Is it from as early as their first few months, or perhaps further forwards in the development process, as they begin to develop their skills of perception? Whatever your initial assumption is, it probably won't be right. An interesting American Study into the matter has recently arrived at a startling conclusion. 

Much has been written about the impact money has on adults. But did you know that there is one important experiment that has shown how money affects children? Let’s talk about it more. 

Poverty is dangerous for kids

The study, which significantly changed how we perceive the link between the amount of funds in the family and the impact of this on a child, was named Baby's First Year. The researchers’ aim was to find out how the elimination of poverty affects the cognitive and emotional development of young children.

As Science Alert states, Kimberly Noble, a neuroscientist from Columbia University, was one of the team members. Addressing the study, she said: “We have known for many years that growing up in poverty is a cause of poor school performance, poorer health and, in the future, lower earnings”.

However, she adds, scientists have so far failed to determine with absolute certainty whether poverty alone is the only factor in the ring, or whether other circumstances are associated with it. So they decided to examine it.

A major study called Baby's First Year

This study has really succeeded in stirring up the waters of knowledge not only in professional circles but also in the general public. It was the first of its kind in America and, as stated on its official webpage, it was written about by some of the world's most widely read and prestigious media outlets, such as The New York Times, Le Monde, Forbes, The Economist, The Guardian and dozens of others. 

Why did this study attract the attention of people and the media so much? It succeeded with its scope, idea and, last but not least, its results.

As part of the study, 1,000 women were selected based on the fact that they met 2 key conditions, namely:

• Low income,
• about to give birth soon.

The mothers were then divided into 2 groups. Women from the first group received $ 333 a month (about $ 4,000 a year) after giving birth to their baby, while the second mothers received only $ 20 a month, which is $ 240 a year  - meaning their financial situation did not significantly improve. 

The researchers then monitored the children's overall development after their first, second, third, and fourth years of life. The results surprised many.

Money increases brain activity

Even when the children's brain activity was observed after their first year, it turned out to be higher in children whose mothers received higher financial support, that is, $ 333 per month.

However, scientists have still not been able to determine exactly what triggered the fact that the brain waves of "richer children" had a higher frequency. This may be due to a number of factors, such as living in a better equipped household, more peaceful parental behaviour or less stress being passed on to the child by the parents.

What does higher brain activity affect?

Interestingly, its presence in children has been demonstrated by several other studies, which have confirmed that the frequency of brain waves in young children is associated with the financial situation of the family in which the child grows up. It is true that the more solvent the family, the higher the child's brain activity. 

It is important to add that this activity affects childrens’ speech development, cognitive abilities and socio economic behaviour, which manifests itself in later life. 

Undoubtedly, these are very interesting findings, which still require a deeper examination in order to be better understood in an individual context. But we can already say that  bringing a child into a family which is in good economic condition is more important than we expected.