How to talk to kids about wealth inequality

In summer, Ms Catherine Collins took her Il-year-old twins, Aria and Edison, to visit the Field Museum in Chicago.

- Kristin Wong

As they walked back to the car, they noticed a woman across the street with a cardboard sign, asking for change.

Edison asked his mother a question that stopped her in her tracks.

"He was very emotional, and he said: 'Mum, why does that woman need money? And why are her kids with her?'" said Ms Collins, 38, who co-hosts Five Year You, a podcast about personal development.

The question brought up important issues about wealth and structural inequality, social class differences and privilege — topics she was not sure how to explain to a child.

"We had a conversation about how not everybody has the same resources," Ms Collins said. "I hoped I answered in the right way, but I think it would be a disservice to the kids for me to think that I have all the right answers."

As millions of Americans are at risk of losing access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and more people are becoming homeless across the country, signs of inequality are everywhere.

Children notice these signs, and many parents are figuring out how to navigate conversations when their children have questions.

One way to help children make sense of complicated topics is to use developmentally appropriate language that they can understand.