Foreclosure taking toll on kids

Three years into the mortgage crisis, the public debate over how to stem the unprecedented tide of foreclosures and the damage they are doing to the housing market have largely overshadowed any discussion of the human toll. But researchers have begun to probe what happens to people after they lose their homes and are becoming especially concerned about the harm done to children.

The number of children displaced has been climbing steadily in recent years, with nearly 40 percent of U.S. school districts surveyed citing foreclosure as the top reason for the surge in homeless students, according to a report this summer by First Focus and the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth.

Children who are forcibly uprooted from their homes and schools tend to suffer emotionally, socially and academically, studies preceding the mortgage meltdown show. Researchers suspect the same may be happening with children who have been dragged through foreclosure and are urgently exploring the consequences.

From: http://ping.fm/B7jDZ