Health Consequences of Poverty for Children

2502 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does poverty affect mental health

Poverty is one of the worst forms of violence. It makes people feel hopeless and useless, but it also enables them to try and do the best they can. If the way of life fails children, then it will fail all of us since children are the most selfless creatures. They don’t need much but sometimes life can be cruel and bring poverty, which in turn makes their life pretty difficult. Poor children are most affected regarding health hazards such as diseases, malnutrition, underweight, stunting and also emotional problems. If nothing is done for them, then everything starts falling apart, because their life will have problems from the very beginning.

Growing up and living in poverty influences everyone’s health and studies have shown that poverty contributes to the development of a wide range of child and adult psychopathology (Wadsworth & Achenbach, 2005). Knowing and understanding how poverty risks the children is necessary for implementing interventions, creating and developing programs, and also put into action an effective policy to reduce poverty, minimize its risks and how to prevent it in the future.

The full human cost of child poverty is inestimable. Nobody can measure adequately the cost in physical or emotional suffering of a toddler living in a damp or overcrowded home, or of a child growing up in a deprived community where hope of a better life is constantly crushed. Political commitments to ending child poverty are based on the idea that a rich economy in the twenty-first century should be able to ensure that every child grows up with opportunities and is able to participate in society.

2. Literature Review

There are various authors who have expressed their opinions, regarding poverty and health, and have documented ev...

... middle of paper ...

...er not even the one fifth of the expenses needed to help a child grow up in a good lifestyle.

Another major difference between them is also the health care services they offer to children in need. France has a great health care system, which most of the cases covers the needs of poor children even if they are not able to afford these services. They range from free vaccination to free health controls and also free psychologists, who help any child that has been a victim of abuse, trafficking and lack of parental care. The same cannot be said in Albania, where even though the situation has improved, still it is very difficult for kids to benefit from a free health care plan or even free visitations. Especially a devastating fact is the lack of proper care for children abused, who do not have enough help most of the time to surpass the traumas they have been through.

Show More
Related

  • The Other Wes Moore Essay

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Effects of Poverty on Childhood Development in the U.S.

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Why Is Child Poverty?

    1867 Words  | 4 Pages

    Working families often cannot pay their rent, or sometimes food. According to an article in The Bill Moyers & Company “Three Steps We Can Take to Solve Poverty, From Someone Who Knows Firsthand” by Tianna Turner, U.S. government should give good tax breaks for companies that provide secure jobs, encourage them to have paid sick and family leave, and invest in affordable and high-quality child care. (Turner) It is true that companies that have tax breaks can utilize tax money to raise the surplus for living wages. Moreover, employees who have paid sick and family leave are more likely perform better in their work because they do not have to worry about the lost hours that result in lost pay. Childcare has always been neglected in the U.S. for a very long time. Many research show that kids in high-quality preschools have better graduation rate from high school, and they tend earn more as adults. If the U.S. childcare system is fix, the parents will have more time to focus on their job, and the overall quality of U.S. citizen will change

    Read More

  • Children Growing Up Poor in America

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    health. “ Most parents of poor children have no medical insurance and don’t have the money to

    Read More

  • Social Aspects of American Children Being Born in Poverty

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the Children's Defense Fund, 13.5 million children living in America today are poor, and 5.8 million of them are living in extreme poverty, with incomes below half the poverty line. The issues related to poverty -- from substandard housing and malnutrition, to inadequate health and child care services, to severe emotional stress and violence -- are complex and interconnected. Therefore, attempting to understand the problem and propose possible solutions appears to be an overwhelming task. Garbarino effectively provides a lens through which to view the social forces affecting childhood development. Aletha Huston, on the other hand, in her book Children in Poverty: Child Development and Public Policy, proposes a "child-centered" analysis, which focuses on the child's healthy development as "a goal in its own right," rather than as part of a larger social-economic context.

    Read More

  • Child Poverty In America

    1493 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the U.S. approximately “21 percent of kids are living in poverty” (“Child Poverty”). This shows that child poverty impacts both urban and rural populations and is crippling one out of every five children in the U.S. With poverty being so diverse and widespread this puts a lot of pressure on kids to try to escape. Also, with so many of America's kids living in poverty, it leaves a good chunk of America's population at risk for damaging effects. In another study by NCCP, they found that “42 percent of kids born into the bottom fifth of the wage class will stay there” (Frass). This shows that with so many kids in poverty that a lot of them are going to be stuck in poverty. This is an issue because serious health concerns are in place with people in poverty such as poor living conditions and inadequate food supplies. This statistic also affects children due to the fact that there is a greater chance for these kids to have children who are born into poverty, thus perpetuating the

    Read More

  • Poverty And Child Development Essay

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Poverty And Poverty

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Child Development And Poverty And Its Effects On Childhood Development

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Poverty And Poverty

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Poverty and Disease

    383 Words  | 1 Pages

    Nearly 50,000 people, including 30,000 children, die each day due to poverty-related problems and preventable disease in underdeveloped Countries. That doesn’t include the other millions of people who are infected with AIDS and other incurable diseases. Especially those living in Sub-Saharan Africa (70%), or “the Third-World,” and while we fight to finish our homework, children in Africa fight to survive without food, or clean water. During the next few paragraphs I will give proof that poverty and disease are the two greatest challenges facing under developed countries.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Poverty on Children

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Poverty Affects Academic Performance

    2579 Words  | 6 Pages

    Institute for Research on Poverty. (2013). Health & Poverty. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.irp.wisc.edu/research/health.htm

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Poverty

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many studies illustrate that high quality child care helps children who have been brought up in poverty to develop skills that enable better education, jobs and earnings (Adelman). It would help to reduce poverty if more parents would invest money `into high quality child care, because children would be able to learn the skills that they should know to get a good education. In an article entitled “9 Ways to Reduce Poverty,” Larry Adelman stated that “Investments in infrastructure—fixing old bridges, building mass transit, converting to clean energy sources—and investments in vital services such as schools, childcare and eldercare generate both public benefits and jobs.” Investments in the most important buildings and structures in a community would help to create job opportunities, which could benefit people who are in poverty by allowing them the opportunity to get a job. Poverty reduction would benefit the economy and the people who suffer from

    Read More

  • The Causes and Effects of Poverty

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, there are two main types of poverty in the world, non-income and income poverty (ZPRP). Non Income Poverty is when people may have money, but only a little to keep themselves alive (ZPRP). They don’t have the money to afford physical services and social events such as schooling, work, medicines, health care, sanitation, and transportation (ZPRP). The best way to condense the cause of non-income poverty is to make sure that individuals have access to inexpensive and exceptional social services, that they feel safe when in their homes and that they have family and friends to protect them when needed (ZPRP). Income poverty is when people are living on less than 1 dollar a day, which is far from the normal amount a family can survive on (ZPRP). They tend to not have fresh food and water, medicine, live in poor houses, sometimes no houses, and have dirty and ragged clothes (ZPRP). Just as there are many types of poverty, there are many effects to it to.

    Read More

More about Health Consequences of Poverty for Children

Open Document