Chapter 4 Socioeconomic Position, Poverty, and Family Research

In this chapter, we argue that research related to families supporting people with intellectual or developmental disabilities should pay greater attention to issues relating to their socioeconomic position and their experience of poverty. To these ends we (1) clarify our use of the terms "socioeconomic position" and "poverty"; (2) briefly review the literature on the relationship between socioeconomic position, poverty, and the prevalence of intellectual and developmental disabilities; (3) briefly review the literature on the impact of exposure to low socioeconomic position and/or poverty; (4) provide an overview of current research addressing issues relating to socioeconomic position and poverty and family functioning and the well-being of family members with intellectual or developmental disabilities; and (5) discuss key methodological and conceptual issues associated with incorporating socioeconomic position into family research. We conclude by discussing key conceptual and methodological issues relevant to incorporating the study of socioeconomic position and poverty within family research.