The Environment of Childhood Poverty Gary W. Evans, PhD
Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Ecology, Cornell
University There is a general perception that environmental
factors play a major role in the physical and mental development
of children. According to Dr. Gary Evans, social inequalities in
society shape mental health. He discusses the correlational
relationship between poverty and various factors such as quality
of housing, parental education, physical health, income, and
divorce rates. Children from impoverished homes are spoken to
and read to significantly less in their infancy in comparison to
infants from other social economic statuses. He notes the
negative correlation between parental social status and child’s
amygdala activation. Dr. Evans uses this evidence to support his
argument that physical and environmental factors are co-
influences on the development and well-being children.