Poor kids in America tend to grow up in a totally different world from middle-class and rich kids. They often grow up in higher-crime neighborhoods, with friends whose parents are unemployed, and attending substandard schools.

Growing up in this separate world can make poverty harder to escape. A growing body of research suggests that where children live — and who they grow up around — can profoundly shape their prospects as adults.

That has massive implications for American affordable housing policy. Most affordable housing in America is old housing. New affordable housing is almost entirely built with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and concentrates poverty in 100% affordable housing projects in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Rich and poor kids should grow up next to each other, Milan Singh, The Argument, August 19, 2026, available here