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
Poverty has a great impact on children school lives because they usually face with the overwhelming challenge in their families that is a factor impact on children’s school behaviors and performance. Girls will tend to abuse, while boys may damage in other aspects such as curiosity, learning, and memory. When I read the chapter two of the book, Teaching with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen, I completely agree with him that “A child who comes from a stressful home environment tends to channel that stress into disruptive behavior at school and be less able to develop a healthy social and academic life” (Jensen, 2009, n.p.). In this book, he reported, low-income children “are linked to over 50 percent of all
The topic is important to the teaching profession since more and more of our students are experiencing poverty. In 2011, over 15.9 million children under the age of eighteen were in poverty (NCES). In Texas, there was a forty-seven percent increase in the rate of children living in poverty between 2000 and 2011 (MacLaggan, 2013). In 2012, 1,777,000 Texas children lived in poverty and 749,000 lived in extreme poverty (Kids Count). Poverty and its stressors are linked to impairment of cognitive development and have implications for development of brain structure and function (Berliner, 2009). Children in poverty are twice as likely to be retained in school, are more likely to be placed in special education classes, perform less well on standardized tests, have lower grades, and are more likely to not complete their high school education (Berliner, 2009; Woolfolk, 2013,
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, over 16 million children (22%) in the United States live below the federal poverty level, which is $23,550 per year for a family of four. Research has shown that a family requires an income of about twice that amount just to cover basic needs and expenses. Using these statistics, 45% of children in the US live in low-income households. Most parents of low-income children are employed, but unsteady employment accompanied with low wages leave families struggling to make ends meet. The effects of poverty on children are numerous and long lasting, such as impaired learning ability as well as social, behavioral, and emotional difficulties. Childhood poverty can also contribute to poor physical and mental health. Research has shown that poverty is the greatest threat to s child’s well-being, but public policies can make a difference when they are implemented effectively.
In a valley known for such wealth and prosperity, there is a growing rate of child poverty. Child poverty is very visible and could be practically eliminated by building more affordable housing for families, creating more jobs to give people a chance to get above the poverty line and, raising the minimum wage to help low income families make enough money to support themselves and their families.
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
It is widely known that poverty has many negative effects on the development of children who grow up in impoverished homes. One of the most influential outcomes of a person’s life is their intellectual development, which takes place primarily within the first years of life. Not only can childhood poverty result in less enjoyable childhoods, but adversely affects the cognitive and behavioral development; yet more specifically, children’s intellectual development (Duncan 406). In fact, the economic conditions that a child is subjected to during early and middle childhood is very crucial for forming ability, achievement, and intellectual development (Duncan 408). Poverty has
“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.
When thinking of poverty, many people first think of third world countries like Africa. What people may not know is the amount of people living in the United States in poverty, especially children. There are over sixteen million children living in poverty; the poverty line is considered to be below $23,550 a year for a family of four. The amount of children living in poverty today is twenty-two percent of all children in the United States (“Child Poverty”). With such a large number of people in the country in fiscally unstable environments, it can easily be seen that they also are susceptible to other problems; one major concern being obesity. Two major contributors to this problem are poor nutrition, because of the lack of nutritious
There have been a serious issue in this country of child poverty that I think that should be resolved and taken care of. Have you heard in the news that children are suffering from malnutrition up to 160 days of illness a year? That’s a big number, and plus that’s not even the half of deaths of children a year. 12.4 million children, are food insecure and at risk of hunger. Children is not getting enough of food to eat, due to the fact that their parents do not have the funds to provide for them. Did you know that 22.4% of Black and 17.8% of Latino households experience food insecurity over the course of the year, as compared to 8.1% of White households. In the black culture, there are struggling single-mothers that have to strive for their
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).
Nelson Mandela once said, "Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future." (Nepaul). Yet, in 2014, 31.4 million American children lived in low-income households and 15.4 million lived in poor families (phys.org). By 2016, the number of children living in poverty still stay the same. In fact, it even shows sign of increasing when nearly half of children in America are living dangerously close to the poverty line, where their families barely make enough to afford the most basic needs (phys.org). Looking at these statistics, it is clear that we need to these children and their families. And in order to do so, we first need to change our attitudes towards the poor and create more effective plans, such as...
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 issue of child poverty needs to be emphasized since so many families are in this international turmoil. Recent studies show that children from economically disadvantaged families have lower levels of cognitive functioning, academic achievement, and social development, including health and
When analyzing children growing up in poverty a lot of factors come into play such as their physical, psychological and emotional development. To grow up in poverty can have long term effect on a child. What should be emphasized in analyzing the effects of poverty on children is how it has caused many children around the world to suffer from physical disorders, malnutrition, and even diminishes their capacities to function in society. Poverty has played a major role in the functioning of families and the level of social and emotional competency that children are able to reach. Children in poverty stricken families are exposed to greater and emotional risks and stress level factors. They are even capable of understanding and dealing with
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