My Low Socioeconomic Status

Literature on the effects of low socioeconomic status (SES) on one’s psychological well-being is well established. Prior studies show that low-SES not only impacts individuals’ mental well-being, but also affects their children’s developmental trajectories. This paper reviews one of these numerous studies and further discusses the influences of parental SES on one’s life outcomes, as well as intergenerational mobility and achievement gap through a developmental perspective.

It can always be nice to imagine that you can go from very poor to very rich but in America, that’s not the case. According to a recent study, 70% of those born in low income families remained in the lower income bracket. Out of the remaining 30%, only 24% reached middle-class or upper- class and 4% rose to become high income earners (Hargreaves). Now, it is very difficult for people born into the lower class to rise up to the middle or upper class. These people that do successfully rise up have to have certain characteristics. 53% were college graduates, 50% were two income families, 35% were white, and 34% did not experience unemployment (Hargreaves). Most people in low- income families cannot afford college and student loans. This makes them less likely to become part of the middle class. Poor people do not have the resources to strive and become part of the other social classes. Overall, it is becoming more and more difficult for low- income families to become part of the middle class.

The first article, “Poverty in the United States: An Overview” by Cliff Brown, is about poverty in America and its characteristics. Those living in poverty have more health and educational issues, and individuals who fall below the poverty level are among the most vulnerable and distressed in the United States. Factors such as: race, ethnicity, family structure, sex, age, and geography are linked to poverty.(p. 89) One of the most striking points brought up in this article, also in relation to geography and family, is the fact that circumstances of one 's birth so clearly affects the odds of experiencing poverty, which contradicts the notion that all americans have an equal chance to succeed in life.(p. 89) With 37 million people living below the poverty line in the US, which is about 12.5% of the total overall population, there are many people being born everyday with less opportunities than others(p.89). Poverty tends to be concentrated among children, female headed families, racial and ethnic minority groups, and regionally, in the Southern United States. Children have replaced elderly as the most vulnerable age group while female headed households with no husband are nearly six times more likely to experience poverty than married households(p. 91).

In Robert Putnam’s “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis”, we are introduced to stories that give us glimpses into the lives of youth across America. The stories represent and act as examples of the two very different groups of youth living in our nation today: children born to parents who are educated, and children born to those who likely only graduated high-school and are struggling to stay afloat economically. There are the rich kids and the poor kids, and, as his book and his research illustrate, the gap between the two continues to grow. National trends regarding rising income inequality, the disappearance of the working-class family, and growing class segregation show that the lives and experiences of rich kids and poor kids are drastically different and continue to veer further and further apart. The subject of his book is the “nationwide increase in class inequality- how the class-based opportunity gap among young people has widened in recent decades” (p. 19) and his thesis is that instead of simply talking about inequality of income among adults, we have to focus on this opportunity gap and work to begin closing it.

For low-income students and minorities, their upbringing and their current socioeconomic status can and will factor into their perseverance and motivation due to the structural barriers they possess. Students’ of low-income families often come from working class homes who help their child to understand what their unavailability to balance work and go to school might be. Often times for minority and low-income students’ they reach an age (often times being the age of 18) in which they have to decide which path they will decide to take, take on work and go to school often times to support the family, or work full-time with the possibility of “growing within their work” with the basic knowledge they acquire once they graduate high school (assuming they do). The Los Angeles Youth is subdivided between the rich and the

For practically every family, then, the ingredients of poverty are part financial and part psychological, part personal and part societal, part past and part present. Every problem magnifies the impact of others, and all are so tightly interlocked that one reversal can produce a chain reaction with results far distant from the original cause. A run-down apartment can exacerbate a child's asthma, which leads to a call for an ambulance, which generates a medical bill that cannot be paid, which ruins a credit record, which hikes the interest rate on an auto loan, which forces the purchase of an unreliable used car, which jeopardizes a mother's punctuality at work, which limits her promotions and earning capacity, which confines her to poor housing.

“In the United States, child poverty rates are higher than rates for the adult and elderly populations.” (Katherine Magnuson and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal 1) As poverty rates increase, more children are involved. Children, uninfluenced by the evils of the world, are pushed by these harsh living conditions and treated unfairly by others. Growing up in poverty can lead to lasting effects, and those effects include education issues, physical health is proven worse, and inadequate behavior. As an adult, these issues can turn into whether or not survival is promised.

While poverty rates among the elderly in the United States have significantly fallen since the 1980’s, poverty has simultaneously increased in the younger population, specifically those with children. Families with young children have a poverty rate that has steadily increased since 2003 (Hoynes, Page & Stevens, 2005). Currently, there are more than 14 million children living in poverty in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). The geographic nature of poverty various across time and has significantly differed from centuries ago. However, it has consistently been found that children in poverty face more hardships academically and physically as they live in economically disadvantaged, chaotic, and under-resourced communities (Reardon

I am from a low income, impoverished, and “minority” majority area. I am an inner city kid. I am from a simple parent household, and many other children around me were also. Because of our impoverished surroundings and the race we identify with, unless we are what society deems as “smart”, most of us inner city kids are doomed to a life of many struggles. Our race and social class becomes our jail cell.

Research shows that 46.7 million individuals and families live below or at the poverty threshold in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). At 15.7 percent, the nation’s poverty rate has steadily increased since the early 1970’s. According to sociologist Mark Rank, “nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 will experience at least one year below the official poverty line during that period and 54 percent will spend a year in poverty or near poverty” (Rank, 2013, p#). The systemic symptoms of poverty Americans experience have proven to be visible threats to the general population’s welfare. Often times, Americans are affected by multiple issues pertaining to poverty. These issues are quantified by time and classified as either strained or non-existent resources. For example, strained resources include, but are not limited to Financial, Emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, or other relational support systems (Payne, 2009). Just under 18 of every 10,000 people are experiencing homelessness on a single night (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). Approximately 29 million individuals and families have gone without health coverage in 2015 (Census Bureau, 2015). Studies show the direct correlation between poverty and stress related illness (Sapolsky, 1998). Although our national unemployment rate is currently at 6.2 percent, working lower-income families are most at risk due to increasing in housing rates and lack of equally raised income

As the movie presents, families of low socioeconomic class have either very low or no interest in education at all. Unfortunately, these people are unaware of the fact that education is able to reduce the gap between poor and wealthy. The children from the low socioeconomic families are already more than a year behind in reading and math from the children who have highly educated parents (New York Times). Children of the families from the low socioeconomic background would suffer the most, since they have to deal with the inequality in education as well. The outcome of unequal education impacts families, gender, social classes, and the nation as well. As it was shown in the movie, most of the parents of children did not have higher education, and they thought school was useless for them. The parents were so hopeless, since educating their kids would not change any of their short term issues.

My mom was 24 years old when I was born. Three years prior to my birth my mom moved from Mexico to the US after she got married with my father. I would consider the socioeconomic status of my family at the time of my birth as the working class. My dad at that time was working as a carpenter in a company which specified in making office furniture. Further, my mom would make extra income working as a domestic worker for an acquaintance she met at church. As a result of our socioeconomic conditions, my mom was helped by WIC regarding with obtaining food and education on parenting. Further, my mom did not consume any drugs while she was pregnant with me. On the other hand, my dad was a heavy smoker, but did not smoke around my mother or me after

The circumstances for one’s livelihood can range widely. Those who live in a rather unfortunate living scenario already don’t start off with the best opportunities in life. It is likely for them to stay in the class their whole life, or even end up worse off than in early life. For just about everyone, they don’t wish to stay in these conditions, although, it can be difficult or even impossible for some to leave their current social class. The reason these people have a need to move up in life is commonly because of the home life. The home life can be anything from divorced parents to abuse, or never having enough money to live comfortably. These reasons can leave drastic and traumatic scars on the mental and emotional states of young children.

It is very true that although some families are born into poverty, other have fallen into this classification due to various circumstances they endured during the course of life’s twists and turns. According to a conservative remark by Thomas J. Surgrue as noted in “American Families” by Stephanie Coontz, “the wages of two underemployed workers barely pull families above the poverty line” (Surgrue, p. 245 Coontz). With this in mind, it makes us wonder if there is any hope to rely on for those who live in this area, whether it’s two underemployed parents or just a single mother or father. There is barely a difference between those who are suffering because they are unemployed and so it seems that’s it even worse for those who are working two dead end jobs and still not breaching the poverty line. Jonathan Kozol speaks of a local high school in the South Bronx when he says that “Morris High School is, after all, one of the most beleaguered, segregated, and decrepit secondary schools in United states”(Kozol). I understand the argument that they are uneducated and do not have a great ability to apply for numerous jobs, but what I don’t understand is if they even find a minimum wage job, they are better off that where they are currently. In addition, there are numerous programs which allow

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