Role of Family Values and Poverty

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Family values and the amount of income a family provides for their child will determine how a child’s personality will develop as they mature in to adulthood. A large percentage of children that are brought up in a broken home or a family in poverty are more likely to commit crimes later in life and go to prison. According to Robert Rector, “Children from single parent homes are far more likely to get involved in crime than those growing up in traditional homes due to poverty.”
Marriage can be the greatest weapon against children dealing with poverty in an unstable household. Most homes that have two parental figures included, be it a Mother and Father, Mother and her Parents, Father and his Parents or so on, tend to have a more stable financial situation which helps support a child or multiple children. A life of crime also has a lower chance to happen for a child when the parents are making enough of an income to support the child’s needs. The parents’ having a higher income also tends to produce a healthier child throughout the child’s life. A child usually looks to their parents as a role model while growing up, if the parents are successful and well educated, the child will most likely want to grow up to be successful and well educated, leading to more positive values. In most cases with a single parent, they tend to have a less of an education than a married couple would. Even when the single parent is compared to a married couple with the same level of education, the single parent seems to make poorer choices. This is probably brought on by not having anyone to discuss problems with.
Most families that have children in poverty tend to be families with a single parent, most likely a mother. The most likely causes for a ch...

... middle of paper ...

...ues and family income play a vital role in the development of a young child, and being from a home of low income does not always determine a child’s future.

Works Cited

Patrick F. Fagan. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1995/03/bg1026nbsp-the-real-root-causes-of-violent-crime
Flynn, J. (2012). Collapse of cultural norms regarding marriage, childbirth 'has been a disaster'. Retrieved from http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/marriage-and-child-poverty
Thomas, A., & Sawhill, I. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=37&articleid=106§ionid=686
Parke, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications_states/files/0086.pdf
Rector, R. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/marriage-americas-greatest-weapon-against-child-poverty

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