Childhood Poverty Analysis

Poverty is not simply a deficiency in material resources, it is the complex situation of low income that limits ones access to many of the social determinants of health such as safe and suitable housing, food, child care, education, and can lead to social exclusion (Séguin et al, 2012). The experience of poverty in childhood, particularly early childhood, has been linked to many adverse health effects such as low birth weight, increased incidence of asthma, injuries, mental health issues and obesity (Sharma & Ford-Jones, 2015). The impact of childhood poverty continues into adulthood, increasing the risk of many chronic diseases. Perhaps even

“Socioeconomic status is a complex construct that is based on household income, material resources, education, and occupation, as well as related neighborhood and family characteristics, such as exposure to violence and toxins, parental care and provision of a cognitively stimulating environment.” (Hackman et Al, 2010) Research has shown that low socioeconomic status has a huge impact on mental health in children and adolescents, primarily due to the associated stress and effects related to poverty. There are three primary factors or levels through which poverty affects children/adolescents: individual, relational, and institutional.

A key factor to understanding how poverty exists is to understand what it does to the victim’s brain. The conditions that come with living in poverty such as overcrowding and exposure to violence can affect a developing brain negatively in the same way drugs or alcohol does. The stress that comes with living in poverty during childhood has over time led people into depression and certain forms of addiction in their adulthood. According to Ostrander, “poverty perpetuates poverty, generation after generation, by acting on the brain.” The maternal stress response system is a very crucial thing to the development of a child’s brain and may crumble under pressure, releasing certain hormones that affect its development. While some children are able to

Grace Abbott once said, “Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time.” Child poverty is one of the biggest issues facing Canadian children today. Child poverty can significantly shorten a child’s life. One of the major reasons child poverty in Canada is so high is because of low wages. These children have a disadvantage to all the other children in Canada. There is major inequality among these children. There are many problems that come out of child poverty and effect the children directly. This paper will talk about the four major effects of child poverty; health issues and nutrition, emotional and behavioural issues, education, and their home environment. (Introduction: dimensions of children’s inequality, 2003).

Educators and caregivers must understand that children come from diverse backgrounds. Children who live in poverty or low-income families face many challenges. When a child is from a low-income family, you must know and understand the obstacles the child and their families may face. There are many ways living in poverty can affect children and families; educationally, physically, and emotionally, cognitively, and socially. There are resources available and beneficial information to encourage and benefit families who live in poverty or low-income families.

The purpose of this article is to bring awareness that low income leads to complicated issues. Specific data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Longitudinal study of Youth examined households living in poverty, for a relationship between the minimum wage and psychological behaviors. Using a cross sectional analysis, the author explored the gap between the US and other country’s income levels. The findings show that although the US is high ranking in income levels, it is also ranked high in the poverty level. Additional, findings indicate that there is a relationship between families living in poverty and psychological behaviors, including a higher level of depression and other behavioral issues. The author found that children living in poverty are at higher risk of developing physical and psychological disorders, than children not living in poverty. This article pointed out the correlation between the minimum wage and psychological disorders. While the study did not include a longitudinal study of children in other countries, it did address an important area of research in psychological behaviors due to income inequality. The author made a compelling case that families living in poverty are more inclined to develop behavioral issues, than those families

Most people from other countries think about the States as being the land of the “American Dream”. Despite being home of the “American dream”, poverty has become one of Americas most major leading problems. Poverty affects multiple groups of people throughout the United States. Child poverty specifically has grown vastly and has fostered major issues such as educational issues, behavioral problems, and generational poverty. Through the pursuit of knowledge, developing critical thinking skills among youth, creating a relatable educational experience for student, and giving students the tools to brake generational disparities, childhood poverty can be reduced.

Childhood poverty is a pervasive problem in the United States. Unfortunately, many children are affected by poverty, with young children being the most vulnerable. Some of the causes of poverty include lack of education, family composition, immigration, and unemployment. The government can help in many ways by promoting marriage and free and reduced school lunch programs. Poverty is a social problem because it’s widespread. People do not have the acquired skills needed to succeed in today’s society. Childhood poverty is even more challenging because children cannot help themselves and the solutions must come from social change in order to have a significant impact. To improve poverty, it is important to create enhancements in education

The psychological health of children around the world is detrimental to their abilities to cope, succeed and be able to function normally within social settings. According to Evans and Shamberg ( 2009), “Chronically elevated physiological stress is a plausible model for how poverty could get into the brain and eventually interfere with achievement” (p. 6545- 6549). Children residing in poverty stricken neighborhoods and families tend to experience environmental stressors as well as physical stressors such as educational setbacks, lack of resources and physical demands that are not being met. These stressors can cause a problem in the psychological health of children because of the need to continually adjust to changes and setbacks that stem from poverty.

We as Americans are extremely lucky. We live in a big country with many resources and almost all the luxuries we ever wanted. On the flip side, in America there are also many people who do not have these privileges. The lower class is a struggling class. For many years, people have been trying to pull themselves up from the lower class and the majority does not succeed. Childhood poverty is a large problem in the U.S. It is said that the poorest people in the United States are the children of the lower class. Childhood poverty could lead to a number of problems such as hunger, violence, physical and mental disabilities, educational problems, homelessness, family stress, sickness, and too-early parenthood. The sad truth is that

We want what’s best for our children. As we play with puzzles in my daughters dedicated playroom while stomping the numbers with the count on sesame street. She’s wearing clean clothes, an entire dresser and closet full to choose from. Still full from her breakfast, an organic waffle with almond butter and dried blueberries. She’s never known hunger, the scent of unwashed clothes, or 2 day old milk. I struggle with tantrums while others struggle with bills. I fear the future while some fear today. I struggle with a picky eater while others don’t eat enough. What if you were that parent, the one who couldn’t provide your children with what they needed?

“High rates of child poverty are a cause for concern, as low family income has been associated with a range of negative health, education, justice, labour market and social outcomes. Negative health outcomes include low birth weight, infant mortality, poorer mental health and cognitive development, and hospital admissions from a variety of causes” (Craig, Reddington, Wicken, Oben & Simpson, 2013, pg. 24).

Poverty can lead to serious effects. Children who grow up in poverty are likely to have frequent health problems than the children who grow in better financial circumstances. For example, infants who are born into poverty have a low birth weight, and they grow up with mental or physical disabilities. Not only are they sick, but they are most likely to die before their first birthday. Children who are raised in poverty might miss school often because of their illnesses, and they have a much higher accident rate than the other children. Nearly a billion of the world’s population can’t read nor write. Poor families experience stress much more than a normal family does. They are more likely to be exposed to negative events such as illness, job loss, death of a family member, and depression. Homelessness is another effect of poverty. Homeless children are less likely to receive proper nutrition, protection and they experience more health problems. Around 1.4 million children die each year from lack of access to safe and clean water and proper nutrition. Homeless women experience a high rate of low birth weight infants as well as miscarriages. Families who do not have homes receive much more stress than other families. They also have disruption in school, work, friendships, and family relationships. There are other effects of poverty such as drug abuse and addiction, child and woman abuse, debts pressure, and increase in crimes.

Poverty is a considerable social problem; with a significant impact on those who suffer within. Growing up in poverty “reduces a child’s chance of growing up to be a healthy, well-adjusted, and contributing adult in our society” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 59). Poverty is families having to struggle to afford necessities. Poverty does not know where your next meal is coming from or having to choose between paying rent and seeing a health care provider. The impact of poverty affects one’s ability through physical, social, emotional, and educational health. Even though individual overcome poverty it still extends across cultural, racial, ethnic, and geographical borders. Children represent the largest group of poverty in the United States. “Growing up in poverty places a child at a profound disadvantage and substantially lowers the chances that the child will mature into a well-adjusted, productive, and contributing

The article’s main social concern is to examine prevention and intervention methods and their subsequent impact on family poverty and children’s mental, emotional and behavioral health. As a conceptual framework, Yoshikawa, Aber and Beardslee (2012), tackle four aspects of poverty, the family and child as the main subjects or selection factors, the multidimensional nature of poverty, the mechanisms through which poverty effects children on an individual, relational and institutional level, and the multidimensionality of children’s outcomes. The authors used two types of interventions. The first set of interventions were advanced by experts in child and family development, targeting the mediating mechanisms such as