A large body of research clearly links poverty status to reductions in child cognitive and social performance. The vast majority of this literature has used traditional income-based measures of poverty. Recently, a distinct but related area of research has emerged, examining associations between material hardship and child developmental outcomes. Measures of material hardship tap consumption adversities, capturing the extent to which individuals forego basic necessities such as food and shelter. Among the components of material hardship, food insecurity has received the most attention in the literature.

To date, studies probing an association between food insecurity and child wellbeing have focused primarily on child health outcomes. The handful of studies that have extended their inquiry to child cognitive or social outcomes have estimated effects of food insecurity on samples of older children and adolescents, or of children across the age spectrum. From a policy perspective, however, intervening at this age may be too late. Research linking poverty to detriments in child development suggests that poverty-related deprivation matters most in early childhood (birth to age 5). Indeed, the achievement gap between poor and non-poor students is evident at kindergarten entry, in both cognitive and non-cognitive domains. These school readiness deficits are a key contributor to the widening achievement gap as children age. Thus, it is important to know whether food insecurity is linked to social and cognitive outcomes in early childhood as it is in older youth. The current study aims to address this gap in the literature by asking whether food insecurity experienced between birth and age 4 is associated with kindergarten cognitive and social school readiness skills.

For this inquiry, we draw our data from the nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). The ECLS-B interviewed parents about adult and child food insecurity at each of its 4 waves: when children were 9-months old, 2-years old, in preschool, and in kindergarten. The ECLS-B also directly assessed children’s cognitive outcomes at each wave, and interviewed kindergarten teachers on child social development. The current analysis limits the sample to families with incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty line who also have complete data on food insecurity and child kindergarten outcomes (N = 2,050).

Preliminary results from OLS regression models with lagged dependent variables suggest that food insecurity when children were 2-years old is associated with decreased kindergarten reading (B = -.2.29, SE = .82, p<.01) and math skills (B = -.1.42, SE = .61, p<.05). No significant associations emerged between food insecurity and child social skills. Next steps include replicating our OLS models on a propensity score matched sample, and testing the sensitivity of our findings to alternate model specifications.

Results from this study will inform current debates about nutritional assistance policy, as well as discussions around avenues for promoting the development of vulnerable children. Specifically, if reduced food insecurity is linked with increased child school readiness, this may highlight another policy lever for reducing achievement gaps.