Preventing Child Poverty

Without a strong educational basis of cognitive skills, young children do not develop the proper skills needed to succeed later in life. Children's cognitive development is often strained by poverty because of the severe stress influences in their household. The author Greg J. Duncan, Ph.D., explores this exact idea in his article The Effects of Poverty on Children. Duncan’s looks at different studies done on children and in these NLSY and IHDP data sets have shown that “Children living below the poverty threshold are 1.3 times as likely as non poor children to experience learning disabilities and developmental delays. The effects of long-term poverty on measures of children’s cognitive ability were significantly greater than the effects of short-term poverty.”(Greg J. Duncan) The stress of poverty can harm a child's cognitive abilities and the more time the child is exposed to these impoverished circumstances, the worse his/her cognitive development will

Child poverty is not just something that poorer countries have to deal with, it is a world-wide issue involving even the richest countries, where the disparity between rich and poor can be worse than in developing countries. This essay will examine some of the key causes of child poverty as well as the impacts on society. The reality of child poverty in the UK is that some families living on a low income and have only about £13 per day per person. (Barnardo’s online 2015). With this in mind, many people may well have met, or know, families that are below the UK poverty line.

Poverty is a major problem in the world and a growing problem in America, it is the state of being poor. In America, the United States Census Bureau published that there were 43.1 million people living in poverty in 2015. In light of this situation, there are currently 21% of 15 million children living in a family with a low income coming into the household according to the National Center for Children in Poverty. Children growing up in poverty usually have the worse outcomes in life. Growing up in a poverty stricken area can have both negative and positive effects on young a child but mostly negative. These could all be mental, physical, and

Children born into poverty are more likely to have social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems. In addition, children in poverty are more likely to have physical health problems, mental health problems, and mothers receive less prenatal care. For instance, a child born in poverty is more likely to have a lower birth weight than his or her counterparts. Low birth rate is a contributing factor in infant mortality within the first year of the child’s life. Additionally, children born in poverty have lower IQ test scores and have less school achievements when compared to their counterparts. Because poverty impacts cognitive development more than physical, it is likely, that poverty will persist through subsequent generations. Further, nutrition, or the lack of, is one factor that contributes to the development of a child. One study suggests that children in poverty are twenty-two times more likely to suffer from maltreatment than those children not in poverty. The poverty rate in comparison state is twenty-two percent, which is the second highest in the country and equal to the national rate of children living in poverty. Children born into poverty, on average, live in poverty until he or she is eight years old. Therefore, it is important to provide services to people living in poverty to help them understand their situation and provide them with the resources necessary to break the poverty cycle.

At-risk children face so many seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The children who are from economically distressed families have to live in conditions such as lack of food, dangerous neighborhoods, and small, crowded living spaces. This also affects their negative behavioral problems, their emotional well-being, as well as their social and educational well-being (Bullard, et al. 1997).

Due to being in poverty, they are not granted the same opportunities as their peers due to funding, lack of cognitive and physical readiness and poor graduation rates. Socially, these children are below the curve due to circumstances that are out of their control. Being below this curve harder times making friends, due to their lack of cognitive readiness, difficulty getting a job, which is an effect of both cognitive and physical readiness depending on the position applied for. Finally, this social set back combined with the poor graduation rates is a recipe for a repeated cycle of poverty among

The problem of child poverty is much bigger than it seems. The impact increases over time because these children have their own children who are likely to get stuck in a cycle of poverty and dependency. Poverty affects many aspects of a child’s life including their self-esteem, education, happiness, and their general mindset on the rest of their life. Reading on this issue opens doors to the real-life problems that America faces and attempts to fix. Poverty is linked to many negative outcomes for children. Research shows that over 20% of children under the age of 18 are officially “poor”. This means they live in households with incomes below the federal poverty line. Also, another 20% of children are “near poor”. These statistics are

Children who live in extreme poverty or who live below the poverty line for multiple years appear, all other things being equal, to suffer the worst outcomes Income poverty is the condition of not having enough income to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Because children are dependent on others, they enter or avoid poverty by virtue of their family 's economic circumstances. Children cannot alter family conditions by themselves, at least until they approach adulthood (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). A child living in poverty is a societal issue that affects society as a whole.

( 2014 ) suggest that a child’s emotional health is far more important than academic ability, or economic status, stating that family income accounts only for 0.5% of the variance of life satisfaction, but (Faith and Thompson, 2009) argue that Growing up in poverty is one of the strongest and most persistent unfavourable predictors of children’s well-being. Poverty has ‘multiple diverse impacts on children developmental outcomes’ (P203 emotion in middle childhood). Children from the poorest countries suffer from malnutrition or disease which could be prevented by the correct infrastructure or medical intervention. In Britain, children born into poverty are likely to have a low birthweight more prone to illness. Growing up in poverty affects children development from birth and has lasting impacts throughout life. Poverty causes children to be disadvantaged even in a loving stable home where the children have secure attachments. These children tend to do worse in cognitive and language tests at 4 years old and (waldfogael and washbroke 2010 in P.204) found on starting school they can be up to 18 months behind their richer counterparts. Poorer children are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety be more hyperactive and show aggression. The effect of poverty on a childs well being is enormous, children feel the sense of difference in their lives compared to their better off friends, many will avoid social situations as they

The costs of child poverty affects children in the form of ill health and high mortality, lowered educational and employment opportunities, increased criminal and violence behaviours and much more. Child poverty not only harms the individual child, but also afflicted the society as a whole with both social and economic costs (Craig, 2013). Boston (2013) also suggested that a nation’s prosperity is reduced with substantial rates of child poverty based on empirical evidence. Children are the future of New Zealand’s society, and they need to be well nourished, housed and educated to contribute to a functioning and thriving society.

There has been allot of research over the years on the effects of poverty and a child’s development. Children from families with higher socioeconomic status do better on cognitive measures including IQ scores, reading and language as well as tests that measure the child’s ability to focus attention on a task (Balter, 2015). Researchers have proven that the psychological effects of living with little resources and low socioeconomic status can adversely affect a child’s brain functioning. Poverty and neglect are found to be two of the major causes of poor learning and academic performance (Loughan & Perna, 2012).

Poverty has an extensive effect on school age children’s socioemotional development. California Department of Education (2005) states that socioemotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others. A study conducted by The National Center for Children in Poverty (2009) proclaim that between 9.5 and 14.2 percent of children between 0-5 years of age experience social-emotional problems that negatively impact their functioning, development and school readiness. Yet, poverty and income loss may directly affect boys more than girls (Bolder et al., 1995; Patterson et al., 1990). Nonetheless, there is an alarming rate of children’s socioemotional development being affected by poverty.

Child poverty is not only referring to the phenomenon of children living in poverty, but also experiencing deprivation of the material, spiritual and emotional resources needed to survive, develop and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential or participate as full and equal members of society (United Nations, 2007). It seems to be the situation happening in the developing countries. However, children from developed countries as New Zealand are also suffering from poverty. Based on the data provided by Child Poverty Monitor, 295,000 Kiwi kids live in households with low income (2016). It is a urgent problem for our future generations as living in poverty may have strong influence on their future. This

This literature review of twelve previously published research articles has focused on summarizing some of the effects of poverty on children. The selected articles all focused on the major effect of poverty on children, and were sorted into four sub-categories or themes based upon a specific focus areas of this complex and not yet fully understood issue. These themes included developmental, educational outcomes, health, and parenting effects, and how they were impacted by children living in poverty.

The National Center for Children in Poverty (2016) reported “about 15 million children in the United States – 21% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold, a measurement that has been shown to underestimate the needs of families.” Poverty has a tremendous effect on children. Children who live in poverty experience several mental, emotional, and physical effects, which later influence their academic achievements (Evans & Cassell, 2013). Children in poverty qualify for government assistance programs; however, some of these programs are scarce and tend to have long waitlists. This only makes it harder for children in poverty to benefit from these resources. This research is design to explain how poverty