Which comes first? The chicken or the egg? Some research about an analogous question Does low intelligence cause poverty or does poverty cause low intelligence move in the the direction of the latter.
Another article puts it this way… “What do Poverty and Insomnia have in common?”
“In both groups, “people wrestling with the mental strain of poverty suffered a drop of as much as 13 points in their IQ — roughly the same found in people subjected to a night with no sleep.” Unsurprisingly, once money worries were resolved, clearer thinking returned.”
The research is drawing quite a bit of attention in various forms of media.
Graphic courtesy of ideastations.org
Poverty saps mental capacity to deal with complex tasks, say scientists | Science
theguardian.com – Poor people spend so much mental energy on the immediate problems of paying bills and cutting costs that they are left with less capacity to deal with other complex but important tasks, including e…
How Poverty Taxes the Brain – Emily Badger – The Atlantic Cities
theatlanticcities.com – Human mental bandwidth is finite. You’ve probably experienced this before (though maybe not in those terms): When you’re lost in concentration trying to solve a problem like a broken computer, you’…
Poverty shown to damage decision-making
usatoday.com – Just being broke, in and of itself, damages people’s abilities to make good decisions in a way roughly equivalent to losing 13 IQ points, or constantly losing a night’s sleep, suggests a report out…
Study finds poverty reduces brain power
reuters.com – LONDON (Reuters) – Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, according to …
washingtonpost.com – As part of the study, researchers conducted experiments on two groups of subjects: low- and middle-income shoppers in a mall in New Jersey, and sugar cane farmers in rural India.
Poverty Has Same Effect On The Brain As Constantly Pulling All Nighters
thinkprogress.org – The mental strain of living in poverty and thinking constantly about tight finances can drop a person’s IQ by as much as 13 percent, or about the equivalent of losing a night of sleep, according to…
foxnews.com – Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, according to the findings of an …
HEALTH
BBC News – Poverty significantly saps our mental abilities say researchers
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News
bbc.co.uk – Being poor can sap a person’s mental resources, research published in the journal Science suggests. The work, by an international team, demonstrates how poverty takes its toll on cognitive function…
EDUCATION
A College Kid, A Single Mom, And The Problem With The Poverty Line : Planet Money : NPR
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npr.org – Rico Saccoccio is a junior at Fordham University in the Bronx. He’s from a middle-class family in Connecticut and he spent the summer living at home with his parents, who cover about $15,000 a year…
HEALTH
Poverty hurts your ability to think reasonably: study
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Dawn Chubai
news1130.com – VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – While many seem to blame the poor for not improving their lives, a new study is out showing it may not actually be their fault. It shows being poor makes it a lot harder for …
EDUCATION
Poor people aren’t stupid; bad decisions are from being overwhelmed, study finds – In Plain Sight
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inplainsight.nbcnews.com – By Maggie Fox, Senior Health Writer, NBC News Being poor affects your ability to think, a new study shows. Those coping with severe financial stress don’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with all…
HEALTH
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Gary McFarlane
princeton.edu – Poverty and all its related concerns require so much mental energy that the poor have less remaining brainpower to devote to other areas of life, according to research based at Princeton University…
SOCIETY
Debt Enforcement Policy Harms Employment Prospects for the Poor
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RH Reality Check
rhrealitycheck.org – The purported objective of Clinton-era welfare reform was to end poor people’s dependence on government benefits and encourage them to find work. But along with the enactment of welfare reform 17 y…
HEALTH
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Robert Quickert
winnipegfreepress.com – TORONTO – Dealing with poverty takes up so much mental energy that the poor have less brain power for making decisions and taking steps to overcome their financial difficulties, a study suggests. T…
Poverty Reduces Brain Power: Study
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huffingtonpost.com – LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, accor…
SOCIETY
This Week in Poverty: John Lewis, Barack Obama, and the New March
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Andrew
thenation.com – There is much to celebrate in marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, as Congressman John Lewis rightly noted on Wednesday. “Sometime I hear people saying not…
ENVIRONMENT
Poverty & MDGs | IPS Inter Press Service | News Agency
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ipsnews.net – U.S. Court Ruling Boosts Vulture Funds at Developing World’s Expense A recent U.S. court ruling over a fight between Argentina and its creditors on Wall Street will increase global poverty by makin…
HEALTH
Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function
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SharonHsiao
sciencemag.org – The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. We hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypothesis. …
HEALTH
Poverty Saps the Brain’s Mental Reserves
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Tanya Lewis
Tags: poverty, Poverty Analysis
