Funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, this literature review from the Taub Center illuminates how economic inequality affects educational achievement – in general and specifically in Israel, where economic and academic inequalities are among the world’s highest. It advances the thesis that low socioeconomic status in early childhood may lead to stress that affects brain development, and identifies policies that could reduce the incidence of such stress in the Israeli context.
We assert that children growing up in poverty are liable to be deprived of enriching experiences and stimuli on the one hand, and are exposed to higher levels of stress on the other. These two factors delay cognitive and emotional development relative to children of higher socioeconomic status. This explains some of the achievement gap between different socioeconomic strata.