“Poverty is like a punishment for a crime that you didn’t commit” (Ella Kamarow). Living in poverty can increase the risk of a child developing serious health problems, developmental delays, and behaviour disorders. Poverty is a persistent problem throughout the world effecting many of the country’s economy. Poverty has major effects on development and limits the choices that families have to offer to their children and to the society. However, this paper will examine the effects of poverty on child development and their families through the use of the family system theory and the ecological theory. Childhood poverty has been the main focus during recent studies, due to its negative effects on children. “Children born into low-income households are more likely to experience health problems from birth and accumulate health risks as they grow older” (Griggs & Walker, 2008). Children who experience poverty in their early years can suffer negative brain effects, such as depression and having difficulty to develop resiliency. These children are more likely to live in poverty or “low income” in adulthood and not have the education that would allow them to be able to support themselves. “According to the report, 13.3 per cent of Canadian children live in poverty, compared to 11 per cent across the 35 "economically advanced countries" studied. According to one study, half of First Nations children in Canada live in poverty” (Statistics Canada, 2013). Due to Canada being a developed nation there is no official definition of poverty, however, when families are surveyed they are measured as low income families. “The negative effects associated with poverty are inconsistent with the general opinion that all children should l... ... middle of paper ... ... J., & Walker, R. (n.d.). The costs of child poverty for individuals and society . Joseph RownTree Foundation. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.jrf.org.uk/system/files/2301-child-poverty-costs.pdf Nagel, N., & Bacon, P. A. (2010, July 10). Poverty and The Effects on Children and Parents. Education.com. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/poverty-effects-children-parents/ Vasagar, J. (2012, June 12). Poverty has two-fold impact on children's ability, says study. theguardian.com. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/jun/13/poverty-impact-children-study What is Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of development? - Homework Help - eNotes.com. (2010, June 1). enotes.com. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/can-use-some-help-starting-this-paper-175243
It is not difficult to document that poor children suffer a disproportionate share of deprivation, hardship, and bad outcomes. More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $23,550 a year for a family of four. (Truman, 2005) Living in poverty rewires children 's brains and reports show that it produces prolonged effects. Also, growing up in a community with dangerous streets, gangs, confused social expectations, discouraging role models, and few connections to outsiders commanding resources becomes a burden for any child. The concern about the number of children living in poverty arises from our knowledge of the problems children face because of poverty.
Even the mere inequality of wealth in a child’s social, cultural, or educational setting can have effects on a child’s peer to peer interactions, hierarchical structure and their ability to achieve. Gorard 2010 as discussed in Victoria Cooper, 2014 (p160), links poverty and or social deprivation with lower academic results. In the Xiao Bo case study by Child poverty research and policy centre, 2013 (Heather Montgomery, 2014) it demonstrates the multifaceted effects of poverty on a child, such as the stresses it places on the family to educate children, pressure on the children themselves to succeed in education to enable them to assist with family finances and lifestyle, the compromises and sacrifices made as a family unit in lifestyle and financial planning in order to pursue education of the child, as well as demonstrating the wide range of instigators that create inequalities of wealth, such as political/policy decisions, loopholes in aid assistance, cost of education and unequal access to resources. In 2001 the Millennium development goals were set out in response to the millennium summit of the united nations to reduce poverty and its associated issues, of the eight goals, the first goal was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, demonstrating the comprehension of the wide ranging affect of poverty on children and society as a whole, and an understanding that poverty ‘Damages children in every way’ as stated by Unicef
Wight, V. R., Chau, M., & Aratani, Y. (2010, Jan). National Center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved from Who are America’s Poor Children?: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_912.html
Huston, A. C. (Ed.). (1994, August 26). Children in Poverty: Child Development and Public Policy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Laden, Greg. "Children from Low-income Families at Educational Disadvantage." Science Blog. N.p., 26 Dec. 2008. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Poverty has many influences on children under the age of 16. The research fined out that in recent year, an increasing number of children become poor, live under the poverty condition- childhood poverty lasted 10 years or more. So, what does the poverty exactly mean to children? According to Brook-Gunn and Duncan, The kids who live in the poverty condition have the low quality of schools; more likely to have domestic violence and become homeless; less access to friends, services, etc. (Brooks-Gunn et all, 1997) That points out the disadvantage and how the family income influence youngsters overall childhood, since under the poverty condition, they children do not have enough money to support for their necessary needs, they will more likely to have low self-confidence and hard to blend in with their peers. Poverty has impact on children’s achievement in several different ways. Payne (2003) maintained that the poverty could affect children achievement though emotional, mental, financial, and role models (Payne, 2003). Thus, the children from low-income family are more likely to have self-destructive behavior, lack of control emotional response and lack of necessary intellectual, that is really important for the students under the age of 16. Nevertheless, the children who suffer from poverty are usually have low birth weight and low cognitive ability
Poverty itself is a controversial and widely debated issue with a variety of opposing viewpoints. Despite differences in opinions on how poverty should be treated, the vast majority agrees that poverty is a problem plagues the nation on both economic and social levels. Economically, poverty affects everyone. As taxes are paid by the entire nation, poverty influences where our money goes and how it is spent. Socially, poverty affects families and individuals on an emotional level. Impoverishment affects happiness and health, the decisions people make, and most importantly the development of children. To best understand poverty, one must look at the issue economically and socially, and contextualize the numbers surrounding poverty as well as
Poverty is “the inability to acquire enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter” (Gosselin,2009). This social disadvantage limits one’s ability to receive a quality education and it is a constant problem throughout the world accompanied with“deleterious impacts on almost all aspects of family life and outcomes for children”(Ravallion,1992). Poverty is a main factor that affects normal human growth and development in a variety of ways, primarily impacting children’s early development, social behaviour, health, and self worth.
Childhood development is both a biological and psychological period that occurs to every human from birth to adolescence. The transition from dependency to autonomy characterizes this period. The crucial factors that affect this period include parental life, prenatal development and genetics among others. Childhood period is immensely significant for the child’s future health and development. Efforts in ensuring proper child development are normally seen through parents, health professional and educators who work collectively. Such efforts are essential in making sure that children grow to reach their full potential. However, it is not extremely easy to raise a child in modern times because certain factors emerge to ruin this pivotal stage in life. Poverty is a serious problem that can immensely affect childhood development (Horgan, 2007). Children are susceptible developmentally to problems in their earliest period of their life. Poverty is not a selective issue and it can affect all ages in any place, but its
The successful teacher of all ages and doctor in human development Eric Jensen, writer of many articles and Teaching with Poverty in Mind introduces many different types of child poverty and a deeper understanding on poverty. Generational poverty generally occurs in families where at least two generations have been born into poverty. Families living in this type of poverty are not equipped with the everyday tools to overcome their situations. Generational poverty also connects with relative poverty, which refers to the economic status of a family whose income is insufficient to meet its society 's average standard of living. This has strong ties to urban poverty that occurs in metropolitan areas with populations of at least 50,000 people. The urban poor deal with a complex aggregate of chronic and acute stressors (including crowding, violence, and noise) and are dependent on often-inadequate large-city services. Finally yet importantly, one of the most dreadful poverty situations is rural poverty and this occurs in nonmetropolitan areas with populations below 50,000. In rural areas, there are more single-guardian households, and families often have less access to services, support for disabilities, and quality education opportunities. Identifying what poverty is, can help the understanding on why and what are the effects of and on child poverty
Thus, poverty has extreme detrimental effects and consequences for children and families suffering through it. It is still unclear whether poverty can ever be eradicated as there are millions still in poverty around the world. The effects of poverty on children have extreme consequences for the early stages of their development, and the consequences for a family relies on the income inadequacies that many in poverty face. These consequences are reinforced by Saunders (2005) as discussed throughout this essay. Therefore, poverty has some major damaging effects for all individuals involved.
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.
This nation has a problem: more of its citizens rely on the federal government for help than to support themselves with a full time job. Poverty has many negative effects on the people who suffer from it and on the economy. Everyone needs to be made aware of poverty and the many negative effects it has on people. There are things that could be done to help reduce the amount of people that are in poverty. Reducing poverty would decrease health risks, strengthen the middle class, and help the democracy.
‘Deep poverty affects approximately 3.9 million young children, making them vulnerable and limiting their life experiences.”(deep poverty) The effects of poverty today are huge effecting not only children but “The World Bank projects that the number of people living in poverty fell to 702 million people in 2015, or about 9.6% of the global population.” (World poverty rate).Even though there are many systems out there helping these children, they are still vastly suffering by not being able to go to school to have a formal education and having low educational scores, malnutrition, and missing key social events causing social incompetence.
Has anyone ever considered thinking about what the world is really going through? How many people don’t have the necessities in order to survive? If so, what are these people going through? Poverty is the state of one who lacks a standard or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Sometimes events occur that changes a person’s perspective on life. Poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/her. Over half of the world is going through this tragedy and we, being the ones who created it, have the responsibility to end it.