Big Bad News for Small Government and Small Kids

There's a group of people — firm in their convictions and maybe even well-intentioned — who whenever given the chance claim a strong allegiance to family values, a deep concern for children and an abiding need to cut social services.

They don't see any conflict between those ideas.

Well, that crowd just got what must surely be some bad news: their position is indefensible.

A new report released by the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute found that poverty and depression are so closely linked that more than half of all infants living in poverty are being raised by mothers who exhibit symptoms of mild to severe depression.

That might be what some people call a personal problem if it weren't for what depression does to parents and kids. The damage starts early.

Depression makes mothers unlikely to breastfeed for more than four months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that moms breastfeed for a year because of the physical and emotional benefits it brings to children and their mothers.

Children of depressed poor women are more likely than others to live in households where domestic violence and substance abuse are problems.

Depression can also make mom a less effective first teacher. A depressed mom (sorry dads, the study doesn't really deal with you)  is less willing or able to get down on the floor and play, unlikely to read that pop-up book or do other activities that nourish the precursors of critical thinking skills.

It seems to me that given the persistent relationship between race, ethnicity and poverty in the United States — about 11 percent of white Americans live in poverty compared to 25 percent of blacks, 21 percent of Latinos and 11 percent of Asians — helping depressed mothers regain their mental health might be a real key in closing the racial academic achievement gap.

And just in case you doubt the Urban Institute's much more certain findings, consider a pair of studies fellow blogger Charlotte Hill told us about earlier this year. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the National Center for Children in Poverty found evidence of elevated rates of depression among poor women and that postpartum depression is also a bigger risk when a mother is poor.

That's scary serious stuff.

But here's the part of the study that must have made some fiscal and social conservatives' blood boil. The researchers behind the study think the most effective and reliable way to connect poor moms with mental health care services might be to expand existing social service programs.

That's right. The Urban Institute's researchers suggested that the most effective ways to screen for depression and connect moms with treatment might be to make those resources available through food stamp and supplemental nutrition programs for poor mothers and children. It makes sense, since many poor women are already enrolled in these programs.

If that makes you mad, just remember — it's for the kids.

Photo credit: CG2_SoulArtist