Early Childhood Residential Instability and School Readiness: Evidence from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study

Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, Statistics Norway
Claire C. McKenna, Institute for Children and Poverty

This paper assesses the consequences of residential instability during the first five years of a child’s life for a host of school readiness outcomes. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examine the relationship between multiple moves and children’s cognitive and behavioral readiness at age five. We further test this relationship for differences among poor, near poor, and not poor children. We find that moving three or more times in a child’s first five years is significantly associated with increases in several measures of internalizing and externalizing behavior. These effects are strongest for children who live in poverty.