The effects of poverty on child development and health are detrimental across the board. Poverty can negatively impact the social and emotional growth of children as well as the brain development. Deprivation is often blamed for the deprivation of children. This includes health issues, such as obesity, Asthma and low development scores. It also increases mortality rates, risks for injuries and abuse. It can cause stress in families, which will eventually affect the success of children.
What is poverty? There are many definitions of poverty. Poverty is more than just a lack of material goods and money. It can be poverty if there is a lack in respect, education or dignity.
The Federal Poverty Line was first established in 1960, and the official Federal Poverty Threshold was created in 1995. For example, a family with 3 adults and one child has a limit of $12,158, and a 4 person family with 2 children is limited to $15,569. The most recent figures from 2016 show that a 3 person family with 1 child can earn up to $19 055, and a 4 member family with two children can earn up to $24,008. All industrialized nations have the lowest percentage of children living in poverty than the US. In the US, 21% of children aged under 18 and 24% of children younger than 6 are living in poverty. According to US Census 1995, the number of people living in poverty is 36. Four million people are poor in the US, and 14,000,000 of them are children. 7 million of these are children aged under 18 years old and 5 millions are 5. 8 million of these children are younger than 6. In recent years, the number of children living in poverty has risen to 16 millions (under age 18), out of this 5. Five million of these are infants or toddlers.
Definition of child developmentChildren’s development is the improvement of motor skills, language and cognitive skills as well as the social and emotional development. Child Development is characterized by a child having a minimum IQ, the ability of competing with peers, a good sleep pattern, and a stimulating, stress-free environment. All of these are dependent on the well-being of children, their family background and social network. The impact of poverty on child (and brain) development. Children of low-income parents are more likely to experience academic problems, social problems, poor health, and a lack of well-being. These problems can undermine education. These children have always been burdened by poverty and they show slower growth rates in certain brain structures.
Gray matter volumes are also 3 to 4% below normal in various brain regions. The Parietal is like a hub of information, which connects different parts. It allows the information to be used and stored. Frontal lobe controls attention and regulates our behavior. It is the last part of the brain to develop. The temporal lobe helps with visual memory, language comprehension, and emotional association. The more time children spend in poverty, they will have greater academic deficits. These patterns persist into adulthood and affect the lifetime reduction in occupational attainment.
At birth, the brain structures of children in different economic situations are identical. As these children mature, they begin to show differences in their brain development. This is due to the postnatal environment these children are exposed to. Various researches have been done to measure children’s cognitive performances and IQs, and correlate them with family financial status. Duyme et al., a study that compared lower-income families with higher-income families, found a difference of 13 points in IQs. Non-human animals that were confined and deprived of toys and exercise showed low brain synapses. In various studies, it was found that children who come from low-income backgrounds are more prone to health problems. In low-income households, obesity and asthma are more prevalent. In low-income families, the school dropout is twice as common. These children are also more likely than others to have food security concerns and be at risk of becoming teenage mothers. According to Poverty Scholars, an ideal poverty measure should satisfy two criteria: it must be accepted by the public and statistically defensible. Child poverty measures can be blunt and imperfect. These measures alone are not sufficient to measure the deprivation of children.
Low-income families are more likely than others to feed their children poorly, provide them with a poor diet, lack educational toys or books, deny them proper sleep and create an environment that is unsafe. Empowering Families In the United States today, most public schools are populated by low-income students.
In 2013, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that 51% of US students were from families with low income. The children of these families with low incomes have low education attainment and poor grades. The patterns continue into adulthood, contributing to low income and wages. We have now discussed the fact that lack of stimulation can cause brain growth to be delayed. There’s more good news! Less gray matter in the brain at the age of 4, is not necessarily an ever-lasting/un-changeable problem. These people do not have to be doomed. They can fully recover with the right environment. As mentioned earlier in this article, the US has approximately 16 million children and 5 of those are infants and toddlers. There are 5 million infants and children in the United States, and this number is growing.
The task is daunting. They will be enriched by simple things such as “talking with and comforting these kids”, “providing them time to play”, and letting them “distress them” in parks. In order to develop programs for babies at risk, communities must understand the needs of toddlers, infants, and parents. These programs are expensive. Some studies show that the Federal Government has helped these families with Federal Income Tax Credits as well as Regional governments sharing local casino profits.
ConclusionPoverty negatively impacts children’s well-being at all ages. Other factors such as the community context, low income duration, etc., have also contributed to this. All affected groups will improve if the proper measures are taken. It is important to conduct more research, because there are many more things to learn.
Comments are closed.