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Cited by 40Employment and Welfare StudiesFamily Dynamics and RelationshipsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

How Economic Downturns Affect Children's Development: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Pathways of Influence

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Gassman-Pines, Anna, Gibson-Davis, Christina M, Ananat, Elizabeth O·2015·Child Development Perspectives
DOI 10.1111/cdep.12137PMC PMC6641565
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Abstract

To understand how economic downturns affect children's development, scholars have concentrated on how parents’ loss of a job affects children's well-being, but have largely ignored the potential effects of downturns on children whose parents remain employed. In this article, we review research across disciplines to demonstrate that economic downturns should be conceptualized as a community-level event that affects all children in a community, not just those whose parents have lost jobs. We focus on three mechanisms linking downturns to children's developmental outcomes: structural changes to communities, the economic and psychological effects on individuals who are continuously employed, and the strain of job loss on social networks. We conclude by discussing ongoing research and looking at implications for public policy.

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Crossref · 10.1111/cdep.12137

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  • Test scores do not consider children's psychosocial development, societal costs due to productivity decline, or heightened pressure among parents.

    “Test scores do not consider children’s psychosocial development (63, 64), either societal costs due to productivity decline or heightened pressure among parents (65, 66).”

    From Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [63]

    The section on economic and psychological effects on continuously employed individuals reports increased financial and psychological stress within families and greater parental distress during downturns, supporting the point about pressure on parents. The paper also discusses children’s emotional well-being separately from test scores, but it does not say that test scores omit societal costs from declining productivity or explicitly assess what test scores capture. No page number was available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. [3]Bronfenbrenner U (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  2. [6]Levine PB (2011). How does parental unemployment affect children’s educational performance? In Duncan GJ & Murnane R (Eds.), Whither opportunity? Rising inequality and the uncertain life chances of low-income children (pp. 315– 335). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
  3. [7]Ananat EO, Gassman-Pines A, & Gibson-Davis CM (2011). The effects of local employment losses on children’s educational achievement In Duncan GJ & Murnane R (Eds.), Whither opportunity? Rising inequality and the uncertain life chances of low-income children (pp. 299– 313). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
  4. [17]Stephens-Davidowitz S (2013). Unreported victims of an economic downturn. Unpublished paper, Harvard University, Department of Economics, Cambridge, MA.

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Authors
Gassman-Pines, A., Gibson-Davis, C. M., & Ananat, E. O.
Affiliations
  • Duke University
  • Duke University (US)
ORCID
Ananat, Elizabeth O
Venue
Child Development Perspectives
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2015-10-28
Volume
9
Issue
4
Pages
233-238
ISSN
  • 1750-8592 (ISSN-L)
  • 1750-8606
DOI
10.1111/cdep.12137
PMC
PMC6641565
OpenAlex
W1533641433
Cited by
40
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5
FWCI
7.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights (vor)
Locations
  • Child Development Perspectives (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • DukeSpace (Duke University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Foundation for Child Development Changing Faces of America's Children Young Scholars Award
  • Sulzberger Family Faculty Fellowship
  • Society for Research in Child Development
  • William T. Grant Foundation
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
economic downturn, child development, community impact, job loss, working parents, structural change, social networks, psychological impact, public policy

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