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What Is The Impact Of Poverty On Children In The United States

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One in five children that live in the United States are living in poverty (Sime, 2016). Poverty is the state of not having enough money to meet one’s basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. What is it like for a child to live in a home with a low income? What effects does it have on children? Children living in low income homes face more challenges than others. They often have to endure the pain of not having family members at home when they need them. At times children living in poverty have to cope with the stress of taking care of themselves as well as their siblings, while trying to maintain satisfactory grades in school. In this paper I will discuss the impact of poverty on a child’s social development, academic performance, …show more content…

It was shown that if the mother had depression or anxiety when she was pregnant it may increase the child’s risk of having a mental disability. Child who have mental disabilities are likely to have low self-esteem, impaired cognitive development, and social isolation (Wickman,2017). Many people who live in poverty do not have a car and have to ride the bus to get to places. They do not have enough money to have a health diet. In order to eat healthy food they have to get to the store and have enough money to buy the food. The closest organic store is sometimes miles away. In most areas, the closest eating places they have are fast food restaurants. Sometimes the nearest hospital is an hour away, and they cannot get there without a car. In some places,they have is a free health clinic, which does not provide the same care as a hospital does.The prices of medication are so expensive that without health insurance, which most do not have, they cannot afford it. If a child has Down syndrome or any disease that requires tons of money, they will not be able to get the help they need. The buildings and homes they live in are in poor conditions and are sometimes filled with mold (Mullins, 2013). The buildings can affect their health and can form new health problems for them. The media tends to turn a blind eye to the health conditions in areas where there is poverty, until it gets out of control. When the media broadcasts cases like the Flint, Michigan water crisis, it was not until years later that other parts of the United States were informed about it. Not only did the media take longer, but the government tended to act like they are doing all they can when they are not helping. In the Flint case, it was stated that many people have gone to someone and

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