Children Of Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds Research Articles

Compensatory advantage and inequality in educational aspirations

Using two administrative and survey-based datasets from Hungary, I look at how children from different socioeconomic backgrounds update their educational aspirations in response to having to repeat a grade late in primary school. I find that grade retention is detrimental to aspirations and later secondary school track choice, and on average, it affects children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds more adversely. The average effect masks heterogeneities by the reasons for repeating: those children who are likely to repeat seventh grade due to poor mathematics performance do not change their aspirations significantly after retention, regardless of their socioeconomic background. However, they are less likely to attend a secondary school track that provides access to tertiary education. As we move towards higher performers in mathematics – and consequently, more heterogeneous reasons for repeating –, retention results in a larger drop in aspirations and the probability of a secondary track ending with a high school diploma. In both outcomes, high socioeconomic status largely and, in some cases, entirely offsets the adverse effects.

The Superstition That Mutilates Children in Africa: Exploring the Scale and Features of Juju-Driven Pedicide in Kenya

Juju-involved pedicide is becoming a frequent crime in contemporary African communities. Yet, sparse empirical studies on the subject exist. The present study explores the magnitude, motivations, and primary features of this crime in Kenya. An in-depth analysis was conducted of ritual homicide reports publicized in three Kenyan media outlets between 2012 and 2021. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with five academics and activists to gain additional insights into key aspects of the results of the content analysis. The data support relevant existing literature that the worst victims of juju-driven murders are children of low socio-economic background in rural communities. The study calls for traditional spiritualists and dubious religious leaders to be brought under closer scrutiny.

Spatial differences in childhood and adolescent obesity according to sex and migrant status in Vienna, Austria


 
 Background The marked spatial differences in the prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity rates within cities are mainly due to environmental characteristics of individual intracity areas. This is the first analysis of spatial differences in the prevalence of overweight/obesity among children in the Austrian capital Vienna.
 
 
 Subjects and methods In the medical-record-based study, the weight status of 1611 Viennese school children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds at the ages of six, ten, and 15 years from 46 randomly selected public secondary schools were included. Medical data have been obtained at schools by trained members of the Medical school authority. Besides effects of sex and background of migration, associations between weight status and the natural as well as social environments of the residential and school districts were analyzed. Since the 23 political districts of Vienna differ markedly in socioeconomic and environmental characteristics, a comparison between the districts was carried out.
 
 
 Results Especially high overweight and obesity rates were found for the socially disadvantaged areas of the 10th, 12th, and 15th political district of Vienna. Children living and attending schools in better-off districts had lower rates of overweight and obesity, despite their low social status. The most important factors influencing overweight and obesity were parameters of the social environment and characteristics of the residential area of the children. Significant associations between the body mass index and unemployment rates, average monthly income, the educational level of the district population, the proportion of migrants in the district, and sociodemographic cluster areas could be observed. This was equally true for girls and boys, as well as children with or without a migrant background.
 
 
 Conclusion In general, socially disadvantaged, inner-city areas showed extremely high prevalence rates of obesity.
 

Visual acuity outcomes and loss to follow-up in the treatment of amblyopia in children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds

We compared visual acuity outcomes and loss to follow-up after initiation of treatment for unilateral amblyopia in children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Childcare Attendance and Academic Achievement at Age 16 Years

Low school preparedness is linked to high school dropout, poor employment, and negative outcomes. Childcare attendance may increase school readiness and foster academic achievement. To explore whether childcare attendance was associated with academic achievement at the end of compulsory schooling (age 16 years in the UK), whether maternal education level was a moderator, and the benefit-cost ratio of childcare regarding productivity returns of academic achievement. In this cohort study, data were included from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) born from April 1991 to December 1992 and the UK National Pupil Database for examination results. Data on academic achievement at age 16 years were available for 11 843 participants. Data were collected from June 2006 to June 2008, and data were analyzed from September 2019 to May 2020. On average, 3.7%, 5.9%, and 90.4% attended childcare full time, part time, and less than 10 hours per week, respectively. Maternal education was assessed by questionnaire during pregnancy. Analyses included weights for population representativeness and propensity score weights to account for parental selection into childcare. Academic achievement was defined as no certificate, Level 1 General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE; limited training), or Level 2 GCSE (qualification for academic post-16 education; high school diploma equivalent). Lifetime productivity return estimates were withdrawn from previous economic analysis based on pupil's qualifications. Of 14 541 children in the ALSPAC study, 8936 children had complete data on childcare attendance, academic achievement, and maternal education levels. Of these, 4499 (50.3%) were male. Attending childcare was associated with higher probabilities of obtaining a Level 1 or 2 GCSE qualification (Level 1: relative risk, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.16-1.73; Level 2: relative risk, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.30-2.01); however, this association was moderated by the child's maternal education level. When children of mothers with low education attended childcare, their probability of no GCSE qualification went from 28.9% (95% CI, 26.8-31.0) to 20.3% (95% CI, 18.0-22.8), whereas children of mothers with higher education had a probability of no qualification of less than 10% regardless of childcare attendance. The benefit-cost ratio for each £1 (US $1.40) invested in full-time childcare attendance for children of mothers with low education was £1.71 (95% CI, 1.03-2.45; US $2.39; 95% CI, 1.44-3.43) for those who reached a Level 2 GCSE qualification. Promoting universal childcare with facilitated access for children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds deserves to be considered as a way to reduce the intergenerational transmission of low academic achievement.

Outcomes following surgery for horizontal strabismus in children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this article is to compare alignment outcomes following pediatric strabismus surgery for simple horizontal strabismus in patients with state-based aid, used as a proxy for lower socioeconomic status (SES) with those with private insurance. Medical records of all children treated with horizontal strabismus surgery over a period from 2014-17 were retrospectively reviewed. Medical assistance was used as a proxy for lower SES. Patients were compared to a control population undergoing similar surgery by same surgeons in the same time period. Data points were collected at preoperative and postoperative month 6 visits. Improvement in alignment was the primary outcome variable. Improvement in fusion, amblyopia, and stereopsis were also examined. Demographic information and compliance with treatment recommendations were recorded.69 patients met inclusion criteria from a total population of 105 patients; 36 were excluded due to loss to follow-up. This was compared to a control group with private insurance; 34 patients were identified out of a total of 38, 4 patients were lost to follow-up. Overall rate of operative success was 71.0% at POM6. Overall rate of success for control group was 73.5%. The difference failed to be statistically significant (p = 0.37). Race, sex, age at time of surgery, and type of strabismus (esotropia, exotropia) failed to correlate with success rate of surgery. Poor compliance with prescribed treatments (glasses, patching/atropine) in both groups correlated with surgical failure. 68.1% of study patients and 70.6% of control reported good compliance with treatment.We present the first analysis of the impact of SES on strabismus surgery outcomes. Overall surgical success rate in our study population failed to differ significantly from a control population and were comparable to that reported in the literature. We found that compliance with treatment influenced surgical success rates in our study population. The high rate of lost to follow-up in the study population is an important factor influencing our conclusion that no difference exists between our groups.

Strabismus success in children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds

Strabismus success in children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds

Family history of immigration from a tuberculosis endemic country and low family income are associated with a higher BCG vaccination coverage in Ile-de-France region, France

After withdrawal of multipuncture BCG device from the French market in January 2006, vaccination coverage (VC) with the intradermal device has dropped and since remained sub-optimal in Ile-de-France, the only region of mainland France where BCG is recommended to all children. We conducted a cross-sectional study to identify socio-economic factors associated with BCG VC in children of Paris metropolitan area born after January 2006. Two-stage random sampling was used to include 425 children up to 5 years old from Paris and its suburbs. Information was collected through face-to-face interviews and vaccination status confirmed by a vaccination document. Poisson regression analyzed the association between VC and potential determinants. VC of children from families with the lowest incomes (first quartile of family income/consumption unit (CU) (<883 €) was close to 100% regardless of family origin. In families with higher incomes (≥883 €/CU), VC was significantly higher among children born to families from a tuberculosis highly endemic country (98.2%) compared with other children (76.2%) (p=0.004). Children of low socio-economic background as well as those with a family history of immigration, regardless of family income, are correctly identified as being at high risk of tuberculosis and properly vaccinated with BCG in this area.

The effects of socioeconomic status on endochondral and appositional bone growth, and acquisition of cortical bone in children from 19th century Birmingham, England

Endochondral growth, appositional growth, and acquisition of cortical bone thickness in the femur are investigated in subadult skeletons (N = 43, dental age range birth to 12 years) from the 19(th)-century AD burial site of St. Martin's churchyard, Birmingham, England. Endochondral growth is monitored using diaphyseal femoral length. Appositional growth is monitored using radiographic midshaft mediolateral width and acquisition of cortical bone using combined mediolateral cortical thickness measured at the midshaft from radiographs. The methodology involves plotting these variables against dental age. Growth is compared in children of differing socioeconomic status. Higher and lower status individuals are identified in the assemblage by their burial in brick vaults in the case of the former and in earth-cut graves in the case of the latter. The relationships between bone dimensions and dental age are described using a polynomial regression procedure, and analysis of regression residuals is used to evaluate differences in bone dimension-for-dental age between the two status groups. Results show that lower socioeconomic status individuals had lower cortical thickness-for-dental age than those of higher status. This was interpreted as likely reflecting poorer nutrition in the children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds. There was no patterning with respect to socioeconomic status in femur diaphyseal length or midshaft width. The results support the idea that, for skeletal populations, growth in cortical thickness may be a more sensitive indicator of adverse conditions in childhood than growth in bone length or width.

Growth of children living in the outskirts of Ankara: Impact of low socio-economic status

Most studies of the growth of Turkish schoolchildren are limited to large cities and to subjects from high socio-economic background. Very little is known about growth and development of rural, suburban and low socio-economic children in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to compare height and weight of school-aged children of low socio-economic background with available growth data from high socio-economic strata, and to verify the possible influences of three socio-demographic parameters on their growth. The sample consisted of 1,052 girls and 1,223 boys, aged between 7-17 years, living in the outskirts of Ankara, a suburban area of poor socio-economic background. Centile distributions for height and weight were estimated by the LMS-method. ANOVA and Student's t-test were used to compare mean z-scores for height and weight among the various categories of the socio-demographic parameters. Children living in the outskirts of Ankara have lower mean values for height and weight when compared with growth data of upper socio-economic strata children. The differences were most pronounced during adolescence. Skinfolds were higher in girls than in boys at all ages (largest p = 0.007). There was no clear relationship between growth and the number of siblings, the number of rooms in the house, the mother's and father's education, and the father's professional status (p > 0.05), except for the height of girls (p < 0.05). It is suggested that the lower growth status of children living in the outskirts of Ankara is attributable to the poor socio-economic status of this suburban population, which has not changed over the past decades. It is postulated that the growth impairment during adolescence might be due to a reduced tempo of growth in these children.

A Four Year Follow‐up Study of Low Socioeconomic Status, Latin American Children with Reading Difficulties

This paper presents the results of a follow‐up study of reading difficulties among Spanish‐speaking Latin American children of low socioeconomic background (SES) over four school years. The research started with a group of 93 children with reading difficulties (RD) by 2nd and 3rd grade teachers in four schools and a control group of 63 children without reading difficulties (ND), belonging to the same schools. Both groups were equivalent in age, grade, gender and SES. All children were tested on reading decoding and comprehension, reading and writing pseudo‐words, verbal abilities, visual perception, phonological processing, and the WISC‐R. Neither SES nor IQ accounted significantly for the reading difficulties in the RD group. The most predictive variables of the final reading level in the RD group were phonological processing, verbal abilities, and the initial level of decoding. After four years, 17% of the initial RD children had reached an average level of reading, but 11% of this group remained with severe reading difficulties and may be considered as dyslexic children. The RD children who became average readers were not significantly different from the control group in verbal abilities, nor in phonological processing. Nevertheless, they were significantly different in terms of IQ scores. The neuropsychological characteristics of the children with severe reading difficulties appear similar to those found in children with dyslexia in more developed countries.

A Brief Note on the Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Test Performance among Ugandan Primary School Children

PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS into the patterns associated with educational attainment in Africa closely parallel findings from the United States: children of better educated parents and dominant ethnic groups are over-represented in comparison to their proportion in the population.2 We do not know as yet exactly why this should occur, but there appear to be three possibilities: one has been researched, the second has not yet been investigated, while this study has begun to examine the third. First, differential representation might occur because of differential spatial diffusion of schools.3 Second, some individuals or groups might be better represented because schooling is expensive in both direct and opportunity costs, and the paying of school fees differs according to wealth and willingness. But third, overor under-representation could occur because of differing abilities to perform academically on the national selection examinations which is used as the criterion for the trickle of movement between the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Ample evidence exists from industrial societies which would lead one to suspect that children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds might perform less well on tests of academic achievement.4 In sum, of all the variables in-

Selected aspects of the development of English morphology in black American children of low socioeconomic background.

A modification of Berko’s test was used to explore the use of six morphological rules, as a function of age, by black children living in New York City. For each of the six morphological rules teste...