Effects of poverty on children

Effects of Poverty on Children
The United States Federal poverty measure was created in the 1960s and consists of thresholds or dollar amounts which represent the minimum standards of economic resources for families. This poverty measure was originally defined using figures for a diet developed by the US Department of Agriculture then these figures were multiplied by three, assuming that foodtypically represented about one third of total family expenditures and that rest funds would be adequate to cover other basic expenses. The poverty thresholds differ by family size and are adjusted annually to accommodate the changes in the average cost of living.
According to the census bureau in 2011 More than 15 million U.S. children ages 0 to 17 lived in poverty in 2010 in the United States, inother words 21% of all children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level $22,050 a year for a family of four. Race also has a strong relationship to poverty since Black, Native American, and Hispanic children represent 38 percent of all children but more than 54 percent of low-income children. They are also more than twice as likely to live in a low-income family comparedto white and Asian children. With such high poverty rate, the consequences of growing up poor, child well-being and future success seems to be important issue, What is the causal effect of family income on children’s achievement and development?
“Children in low-income families start off with higher levels of antisocial behavior than children from more advantaged households. And if the homeremains poor as the children grow up, antisocial behavior becomes much worse over time compared to children living in households that are never poor or later move out of poverty (Strohschein, 2005)
The financial competency of the parents have a direct effect children living in poverty, since they often lack goods and services many consider essential to human well-being, and completely depend on howmany resources are available to their families and on how the adults allocate those resources. Most children living in poverty have parents who receiving low wages and unstable employment.
Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Compared to their peers low-income children, are disproportionately affected by mental healthchallenges, impairing the ability of children to succeed in school and placing them at risk of involvement with child welfare and juvenile justice agencies. The effect of household income on the rate of change in child depression is greater as children grow and becomes stronger over time on children who are affected by longer periods of poverty are hit the hardest. According to the Center on Hungerand Poverty at Brandeis University under nutrition along with environmental factors associated with poverty can permanently retard physical growth, brain development, and cognitive functioning.
The socio-economic environment we are raised has an impact on goal-oriented motivation and achievement. A good education is often the only means of breaking the cycle of poverty for poor families, butchildren living in poverty generally achieve at lower levels than children of middle and upper classes because of the social environment in which poor children live and the education they receive in school. Children of poorer parents are more likely to attend lower quality schools and only 14 % of new teachers in high poverty schools come from the top third of their class (Rhee). Poor environments oftenlack characteristics that help foster effective learning and academic success.
Poverty negatively influences child health and development in many ways. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, children in poverty are 3.6
times more likely than non-poor children to have poor health and 5 times more likely to die from an infectious disease. They often start life at a disadvantage...