Poverty And Its Effects On Children

As mentioned by Ruane and Cerulo in Second Thoughts, harsh realities of poverty affect children’s lives in profound ways. Children lack any power in improving their circumstances and depend on adults to gain access to basic necessities. Access to proper healthcare, education, and basic nutrition continues to be an obstacle for children. Poverty impedes children’s aptitude to learn and contributes to poor overall health and mental health. Perhaps most important, poverty becomes a cyclical nature that is difficult to overcome. Children who experience poverty when they are young tend to experience persistent poverty over the course of their entire lives. According to the Child Welfare League of America, the national poverty rate for children

According to Parker, the chief characteristics of poverty are being tired, asking for help, looking into a black future. As well as poverty being living in a smell that never leaves, staying up all night, insects all over the place, dirt, and remembering. Parker breakdowns what poverty is to her with a good way of portraying it by writing to give the reader vivid descriptions.

Poverty is a big problem in the United States. According to Charles Zastrow, “in 2012 over forty-six million people, about fifteen percent of our population was living below the poverty line” (p. 117). In other words, there were a great amount of people living below the poverty line the poverty line. The poverty line is the minimum level of income needed for secured needs of life according to the government. Poverty causes malnutrition, homelessness, School dropout’s drug abuse, and much more.

It is known that the children are unable to determine their life circumstances, their families, and care solely for themselves without supervision. With this being said, children have little to no jurisdiction in determining the situations that they are confronted with. Most of the time when we ponder child poverty we think of low-income families or lack of food in the household, but it extends beyond that to “an environment that is damaging to their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development” (“Children Under Threat,” 2005). Unfortunately, the prevalence of youth poverty in the United States may seem uncommon to those who are personally unaffected by the crisis; however, statistics show that 15 million children (21% of all children) live in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold (Child Poverty, 2017). Moreover, when considering the demographics of impoverished children the following are true: a child in the U.S. has a 1 in 5 chance of being poor and the younger they are the poorer they are likely to be, and a child of color is more than twice as likely to be poor than a White child (Child Poverty, 2017). Research proves that poverty is the single greatest threat to a child’s well-being as it decreases the likelihood of a child graduating from high school, and it increases the chances of them becoming involved with the criminal justice system (Ending Child Poverty Now, 2017).

Poverty and inequality have virtually plagued every country on the planet, including our own wealthy, free, and developed nation. Poverty is when people lack certain resources to meet basic living requirements. Inequality can be equated as the different levels of wealth, opportunities, and resources given to different groups of people. While white people do suffer from poverty, minorities are impacted by poverty and inequality on a much larger scale. Although there are far more white Americans in our country, poverty among African Americans is almost three times the percentage of white Americans in poverty. Overall, poverty affects more than 40 million people in the United States alone. Both poverty and inequality hinder the ability of these 40 million people to provide for their family and pay for housing, food, and living necessities. From my understanding, poverty and inequality are interrelated.

Lowering the poverty level will effectively help people live better lives because more financially stable, they would have the means to provide and take care of their selves or their families. Poverty in America a topic that is always current, and is a problem that will never be truly abolished. In the United States, almost 13 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. This information, and my interest in the subject, helped me form three questions. What is poverty? How do people enter poverty? And what is being done to combat it?

In the United States today there are many reforms that had been made to help cope with those who are living in poverty. However, these reforms have been keeping many from being able to climb the social class ladder because the “War on Poverty” has not been effective on ridding poverty in the U.S. According to the Heritage Foundation, there are about forty six million people who are living in poverty and it is a conflict in this country because it puts people of lower class at a disadvantage because they have to choose between necessities like healthcare, child care and food in order to help themselves and their family members; therefore, many sacrifices have to be made to insure their survival. Though

Poverty has caused affliction for the individuals who can’t get a job or can’t pay for their needs on minimum wage. The adversity has made many people have to live on the streets, on someone's couch, or in an unspeakable apartment with no heat or electricity. Poverty is not the stereotype of drugs and alcohol abuse; it is an indescribable hardship that has taken over the lives of many people in America today.

Today, too many people of all ages are living in poverty and many others are only one paycheck away from being there. More than one in eight Americans are considered poor. Poverty has had a huge effect on the outcome of the loss of homes and the lack of resources needed to be able to survive in today’s society. Many people who are in poverty are not able to make enough to support their families.

An issue that affects children in urban areas is poverty. Children who live in poverty are impacted with many negative effects physically or mentally. Some of these issues related to poverty are substandard housing, inadequate nutrition and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of access to health care, unsafe neighborhoods, and under resourced schools. Studies show that “poverty affects child development and they experience more social problems” (Curley).

Hardship on an economic level and others can have lasting effects on a child’s development and lifestyle in the future. Being a low-family can get in the way of a child’s cognitive development and his/her ability to learn. Being at a low-income can cause children to have behavioral, social, and emotional problems, along with poor health. Children who are very young and live in low-income families and children who experience relentless and persistent poverty are at the greatest risks.

The U.S. is highly respected and is always associated with greatness. The illusion of prosperity overshadows a critical issue which is often ignored and that issue is poverty. In 2014, there were about 47 million people in America living in poverty, 16 million being children. What exactly is poverty? The state or condition of having a little or no money, goods, or means of support. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, it is less than $11,770 for one individual and $24,250 for a family of four. . Poverty is very important, our main goal is to end poverty but unfortunately over the years it has not been successful. So, our purpose is to at least lower the high numbers in statistics. To get out of poverty, America needs

Poverty is one of the greatest problems in the United States today. Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; a condition of being poor.Many people, especially African Americans and children, live in poverty. People in poverty are left to face different social, cultural, physical and mental challenges.The American Dream is to have a well paying job and to be comfortable, but most Americans are forced to live a life of poverty. Although the United States is one of the richest countries in the world, the rate of poverty and income inequality is still relatively high. Economic Inequality is the reason why poverty is increasing, and equal opportunity is reducing. 1

The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, but yet poverty remains prevalent. Childhood poverty affects every aspect of their life. “Poverty is not having income for basic needs, food, medical care or basic needs and housing” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 59). Poverty is affecting thousands of Americans every day, and it isn 't sparing anyone of a particular race, age or gender, leaving people on welfare, and without homes, or transportation. Poverty is a crisis that deserves attention from everyone, and it has many faces that are often not recognized

In the United States and in countries all over the world, poverty has extreme impacts on a