...Running head: CAUSE OF AMERICAN POVERTY AND THE EFFECTS IT HAS ON CHILDREN 1 Cause of American Poverty and the Effects It Has on Children Daphney Pratcher Strayer University English 115 Cause of American Poverty and the Effects It Has on Children 2 Poverty is the lack of basic human need, such as fresh water, nutrient, health care, education, clothing, and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. Is there Poverty in America? One of the richest countries in the world? Yes, poverty is a reality in America; the causes of poverty involve issues related to economics and education coupled with abuses in governance and lack of opportunity. Poverty in American has grown tragically. It is a spreading national scourge among all races and even more so in center cities, rural areas, and on Indian reservations. There are several causes for American poverty and this affects our children. One of the most common misconceptions is the assumption that if someone is hungry, that means they do not have a job and are living on the streets. What most people don’t understand is that anyone can experience hunger. It is a silent epidemic that affects millions of Americans. Many jobs have laid people off and this has caused poverty to rise. Millions more are surviving only because of expanded unemployment insurance and other assistance. One way embattled Americans have gotten by is sharing homes with siblings...
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...than 13 million children (19 percent of all children) under age eighteen lived in families with incomes below the official poverty threshold. Although children age eighteen and under represent 26 percent of the United States population, they comprise nearly 40 percent of the poverty population. Despite a steady decrease from 1993 (23%) to 1999 (17%) in the rate of children in poverty, the United States still ranks highest in childhood poverty among all industrialized nations. In the United States, income poverty is defined by the poverty threshold, developed in 1959 and based on expected food expenditures (thrifty food basket) for families of varying sizes. Each year the threshold is adjusted for the Consumer Price Index cost of living. In 1999, the poverty threshold for a single mother raising two children was $13,423. Researchers have criticized the poverty threshold on numerous counts. First, government transfers such as food stamps and housing subsidies as well as tax benefits (e.g., the Earned Income Tax Credit) and tax payments are not included when assessing the poverty threshold. Second, regional and urban differences in the cost of living are not considered when computing the poverty threshold. Despite the criticisms levied against the way poverty is assessed in the United States, the current review highlights research that has used this definition of poverty, while acknowledging its weaknesses. This article reviews the literature linking family poverty to children's...
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...Can growing up in poverty affect a child? Growing up in poverty will affect children in many ways hurting them and their daily lives. The article ¨The effects of poverty…” by the APA the article talks about how children are affected by growing up in poverty in different ways and how their future is changed because of it. In the novel House on mango Street , by Sandra Cisneros, the novel includes a series of characters like Esperanza, Mamacita and sally. These girls all have grown up in poverty and have not received the same academic opportunities as other students. Growing up in poverty will affect a child negatively , because the child is already facing struggles to get the right tools that they need, which will affect the outcome on their future, children's health are also affected by poverty because they are in poorer communities which puts them at greater risk of a wide range of physical health problems, lastly poverty can affect behavior because children can act different behaviorally and emotionally when struggling through poverty. Children...
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...Research on Poverty Discussion Paper no. 1044-94 Long-Term Poverty and Child Development in the United States: Results from the NLSY Sanders Korenman Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and Center for Population Analysis and Policy University of Minnesota Jane E. Miller Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research Rutgers University John E. Sjaastad Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs University of Minnesota September 1994 This research was funded by a grant from the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin. An earlier version of part of this paper appeared as part of Office of Population Research Working Paper No. 93-5, Princeton University, June 1993, which contains supplemental analyses and is available from the authors. We thank participants in seminars at the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the 1993 meetings of the Population Association of America for their comments. Abstract The authors describe developmental deficits in early childhood associated with long-term poverty in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). They compare estimates of the effects of long-term poverty (based on a thirteen-year average of income) to estimates of the effects of poverty based on a single year of income (at the time of developmental assessment). They find substantial developmental deficits among children who, on...
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...org/ERR ISSN 1990-3839 © 2011 Academic Journals Review The effects of poverty on academic achievement Misty Lacour1 and Laura D. Tissington2* 2 Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Arkansas, USA. th University of West Florida, 1732 N. 13 Avenue Pensacola, Florida 32503, USA. Accepted 12 May, 2011 Poverty, which forms a specific culture and way of life, is a growing issue in the United States. The number of Americans living in poverty is continually increasing. Poverty indicates the extent to which an individual does without resources. Resources can include financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical resources as well as support systems, relationships, role models, and knowledge of hidden rules. Poverty directly affects academic achievement due to the lack of resources available for student success. Low achievement is closely correlated with lack of resources, and numerous studies have documented the correlation between low socioeconomic status and low achievement. Several strategies exist to assist teachers in closing the poverty achievement gap for students. Key words: Poverty, family income, achievement gap, academic gap. INTRODUCTION In the United States (US), the gaps in achievement among poor and advantaged students are substantial (Rowan et al., 2004). Through multiple studies, The U.S. Department of Education (2001: 8) has indicated results that “clearly demonstrated that student and school poverty adversely affected student achievement”. The U.S. Department...
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...ISSN 1990-3839 © 2011 Academic Journals Review The effects of poverty on academic achievement Misty Lacour1 and Laura D. Tissington2* 2 Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Arkansas, USA. th University of West Florida, 1732 N. 13 Avenue Pensacola, Florida 32503, USA. Accepted 12 May, 2011 Poverty, which forms a specific culture and way of life, is a growing issue in the United States. The number of Americans living in poverty is continually increasing. Poverty indicates the extent to which an individual does without resources. Resources can include financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical resources as well as support systems, relationships, role models, and knowledge of hidden rules. Poverty directly affects academic achievement due to the lack of resources available for student success. Low achievement is closely correlated with lack of resources, and numerous studies have documented the correlation between low socioeconomic status and low achievement. Several strategies exist to assist teachers in closing the poverty achievement gap for students. Key words: Poverty, family income, achievement gap, academic gap. INTRODUCTION In the United States (US), the gaps in achievement among poor and advantaged students are substantial (Rowan et al., 2004). Through multiple studies, The U.S. Department of Education (2001: 8) has indicated results that “clearly demonstrated that student and school poverty adversely affected student achievement”. The U.S. Department...
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...Poverty and Family: A threat to Marriage and Family happiness Poverty is one of the many factors contributing to severe problems faced by the world today. Causes of poverty are diverse but unemployment and wages below minimum are the most commonly known causes of poverty. It is unfortunate that some people inherit poverty, thus people born in particular social groups defined by race or location where poverty is prominent. Poverty is occurs on many levels and its effects are not only detrimental to individual families but to society as a whole. The effects of poverty on families are beyond measure. Noticeable effects of poverty on families include stress on bread-winners of the family and on children. Disease and inadequate parenting which is associated with numerous problems are also effects poverty noticeable in our everyday communities. Parents living under poverty conditions find it very hard to provide the basic needs such clothing, shelter and food needed for a decent living,” about 330,000 people, roughly the population of Windsor, turn to food banks every month in Ontario” (Par Health Nexus Santé). Economic hardships cause parents to think too much as they try to figure out possible ways of getting off their financial mess resulting in extensive stress. Anxiety and frustration due to failure to provide generates a sense of less self-worthy and causes sleepless nights to parents. Adults who find it difficult to bear the thought of failing to provide for their families...
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...Reasons Single Mothers Live in Poverty Tonya Norwood COM/150 February 16, 2014 Shyree Latham Reasons Single Mothers Live in Poverty According to Jennifer Wolf (2014), custodial single mothers are twice as likely to live in poverty as the general population. In 2009, 14 percent of the United States general population lived in poverty. 30 percent of custodial single mothers and their children lived in poverty. Moreover, thirteen million kids live in poverty in the U.S. The children living in poverty are affected in many different ways psychologically, socially, and physically. The federal poverty guideline for a family of four is $23,050.00 and that guideline compares to a median U.S. household income of $50,054.00 (Breslow, 2012). Many of these single mothers living in low income have low education. Nationally, over 80 percent of families headed by a parent without a high school diploma lives in poverty, compared to 54 percent of families headed by a parent a high school diploma, and only 22 percent of families headed by a parent with at least some college education. Single mothers live in poverty because they lack higher education and are products of poverty themselves. Lack of Education Thirty years ago less than twenty percent of birth occurred to single women. Today that number has doubled. At one time race was a huge factor, however. Today, education is a key factor. In 1990, ten percent of birth occurred to white single mothers with...
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...America's Children® 2010 Report Billie Jo Gary Argosy University PSY260 Abstract This assignment I will discuss child poverty from the “State of America's Children® 2010 Report”. I found that poverty does not exclude anyone. Poverty hits every race, every country, anytime, it is a sad truth that negatively effects the lives of many children and families poverty continues to rise and it is now at an all time high. Not to mention the unemployment rate. What can we do to put a stop to these rising factors? Introduction Over the last decades, the world has made many changes, and the effects of those changes have profoundly been felt by many families everywhere. Today, children are being raised in single parent homes and it is hard when one parent has to work two jobs because absence of the parents can have very drastic effects on the child. (Miller, 2007). Sadly the numbers are at an all time high, when it comes to families and children living in poverty. Unemployment rates are growing and will continue to grow. Sadly more and more families are out of work and having to live without their basic needs being met. Many children experience...
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...When you hear the word poverty, the images which we come across may involve people in distant lands. We have seen people who suffer greatly from poverty from the effects of wars, natural disasters, famines and bleak economic situations. it is unimaginable that here in the UK, one of the worst poverty rates since World War 2(bbc poor kids 2012). We often feel impelled to do something to help, or contribute to a cause or campaign aimed at the response to a specific need or crisis, while it is important for us to become aware of a global problem or crisis. Poverty is defined as two meanings;Absolute poverty; when a persons income is so low that they cannot afford the basic essentials for living.Relative poverty where there income is well below the national average of living usually around £15,000 pounds a year(gcse sociology ). Child poverty has become a significant issue in the UK. Its definition itself has become quite controversial. This essay will use the definition set by the government. Labour has defined child poverty as any child living in a household with below 60% of average income after housing. (www.society.guardian.co.uk) It has grown substantially in the 1980s and 1990s. The recent increase in child poverty is particularly a British phenomenon. According to figures, the level of child poverty in the UK is very high . Child poverty affects 3.5 million children in the UK. Inner city areas of London, Manchester, Leicester, and Glasgow are among the worst hit areas...
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...Poverty’s Effect on Children Children in poverty are affected in negative ways on a daily basis. Poverty has been a major issue throughout the world, and places a wide span of negative affects on children. In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, The Wall’s family lives most of their lives in poverty which buries their children in stress, unstable environments, and misery. Poverty contributes to a lack in a child’s intellectual abilities, mental health, abuse, and family stability. Poverty puts a strain on children’s intellectual abilities in school. Kids who are in poverty feel as if they have no control over their life, and are less motivated to put forth effort into their education. This is also known as “learned helplessness”...
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...In recent years, about one in five American children, some 12 to 14 million, have lived in families where cash income failed to be good enough for their beneficial uses. Another one-fifth lived in families whose incomes were no more than twice the poverty threshold. Childhood poverty lasted 10 years or more. Income poverty is the condition of not having enough income to meet basic needs for the things that were needed. Because children are depending on others, they enter or avoid poverty by virtue of their family’s economic circumstances. Children cannot deal with family conditions by themselves, at least until they approach adulthood. Government programs, such as EBT, Child support, and HUD have been developed to increase the likelihood that poor...
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...Poverty…. which is defined as the state of being extremely poor. There are two types of poverty that are known, absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is lacking the need of food and shelter, which is necessary for a person to survive throughout life. And relative poverty is those who are stable, but lacking the needs of most Americans because of their financial status. There are many reasons that cause poverty. For example, loss of job and not being able to find work. But many Americas believe that poverty is caused by the poor, because of the belief that you can do anything in America. Poverty can cause health problems for children growing up also. Things such as chronic stress, and experiencing difficult things throughout childhood...
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...Education and Poverty in America Historically, education has been considered the “great socioeconomic equalizer” of American society, allowing all children an equal opportunity to succeed. Furthermore, a high-quality education is considered both a human and civil right however, educational experiences for children living in poverty continue to be substantially separate and unequal. In the United States, poverty is a common social, political and economic issue that has troubled Americans for years. Despite being better off today nearly 50 million Americans, including more than half of which are children currently live in poverty. In his poem, “Cause I Ain’t Got a Pencil,” Joshua T. Dickerson describes the damaging effects poverty has on...
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...Race and Poverty: Factors of the African American Achievement Gap Abstract The proposed action research study will pinpoint factors that contribute to the African American academic achievement gap. These factors impact not only the lives of families in the African American community but continues a vicious cycle of generations of poverty that hinders our country’s ability to effectively compete economically and also threatens America’s capacity to provide social equality for all. The participants in this study will comprise of parents and students of highly concentrated poverty - low academically performing African American public schools. Thirty two parents and thirty two students from eight low performing-poverty schools in the research study will be interviewed and surveyed online. Collected information and data will be researched employing qualitative and quantitative practices. Introduction There was a time when children of color were denied the hope and expectation of equal education because of racial isolation and discrimination in America’s education system. Although it’s been well over 50 years since Brown –vs.- The Board of Education which established equal education for all, today we are still faced with large racial disparities in reading and math proficiency between African American children and their thriving white contemporaries. This purpose of this study is to illustrate the connection that occurs between race and poverty with the academic...
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