One might expect researchers to have settled the question long ago of whether poverty causes crime. On the surface, the answer seems obvious. A correlation certainly exists: anyone working in the criminal-justice system—or simply walking through a low-income neighborhood—could observe that the poor are more prone to crime. But is the relationship causal? As the old Gershwin tune reminds us, it ain’t necessarily so.
We were poor by the day’s standards lower working class, K was raised by her single Mum. None of us imprisoned. So far.
