Childhood Poverty and Cognitive Development in Latin America in the 21st Century

Abstract

For at least eight decades, researchers have analyzed the association between childhood poverty and cognitive development in different societies worldwide, but few of such studies have been carried out in Latin America. The aim of the present paper is to systematically review the empirical studies that have analyzed the associations between poverty and cognitive development in children under 18 years of age from Latin American and Caribbean countries between 2000 and 2015. This analysis takes into consideration the country where the work was conducted, the experimental and analytical design, sample size and composition, cognitive and poverty paradigms implemented, levels of analysis, and the inclusion of mediation analyses. Through these, we identify common patterns in the negative impact of poverty that have been repeatedly verified in the literature in other continents; we also call attention to a set of issues regarding sample, design, paradigms, impact, and mediation analyses that should be considered in future studies in the region.