Timing and Duration Effects of Homelessness on Children’s Health

Posted by Children’s HealthWatch on June 22, 2015

Compounding Stress: The Timing and Duration Effects of Homelessness on Children’s Health

Decades of scientific research has demonstrated that homelessness experienced during early childhood is harmful to a child’s growth and development.1 The stress of homelessness during early childhood can lead to potentially permanent harmful changes in brain and body function, in turn causing higher levels of stress-related chronic diseases later in life.2 In addition, a growing body of evidence has established that a child’s health and development are critically dependent on his mother’s mental and physical well-being during pregnancy.3

New research from Children’s HealthWatch illustrates there is no safe level of homelessness. The timing (pre-natal, post-natal) and duration of homelessness (more or less than six months) compounds the risk of harmful child health outcomes. The younger and longer a child experiences homelessness, the greater the cumulative toll of negative health outcomes, which can have lifelong effects on the child, the family, and the community.

http://www.childrenshealthwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/Compounding-Stress_2015.pdf