Greenness may help children rise out of poverty.

M.H.E.M, B. ., & Rigolon, A. . (2019). Could nature help children rise out of poverty? Green space and future earnings from a cohort in ten U.S. cities. Environmental Research. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.04.016

This study investigated associations between exposure to green space during childhood and adult earnings. The goal was to determine if exposure to nature could help children improve their social mobility, that is the ability to advance in socioeconomic status.

Data for this study was based on a diverse sample of children who were born between 1978 and 1982 and grew up in one of the ten largest cities in the United States. Data included measures of the children's exposure to green space in the 1980-1990 period and measures of their income 30 years later. Two different measures were used for exposure to green space – one based on public parks; the other on total vegetative greenness. The public park measure considered proximity, park acreage, and new parks built between 1980 and 1990. The total vegetative greenness measure was based on satellite imagery using the normalized vegetation difference index (NDVI).

Overall findings showed that greenness was positively associated with income while park proximity, park acreage, and new parks were not. This association was found in wetter, cooler, less dense, and more advantaged areas of the cities. The researchers estimated that “over a 30-year career, children growing up in tracts with the most vegetative cover will earn cumulatively $28,000 more than children growing up in tracts with the least cover, on average.”

Three different pathways based on previous research provide some possible explanation for how greenness might promote social mobility. The first pathway relates to a positive association between greenspace exposure and academic achievement. Related research shows that children with limited exposure to nature are more vulnerable to illness and prone to behavioral challenges, conditions placing them at greater risk for academic difficulties. Related research also shows that exposure to greenness can promote cognitive functioning which plays an important role in academic success. The second pathway relates to creativity, a trait in high demand for well-paid jobs in our creative economy. Multiple studies provide evidence of a link between exposure to greenness and creative performance. The third pathway by which greenness could promote social mobility relates to emotional intelligence. This area of development includes such skills and traits as self-regulation, self-awareness, empathy, social skills, and intrinsic motivation.

This research suggests that greenness may help children rise out of poverty. While this study found only a weak association between greenness and children's social mobility, mounting evidence supports increasing the provision of green space in children's neighborhood environments as a way of improving their chances of a physically, emotionally, socially, and economically healthy future.

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