How Children Are Affected By Being in Poverty

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There has been research on child poverty and that poverty makes a negative impact on children's well-being, academic performance, and even both physical and mental health. According to the American Psychological Association (2015), "Poverty is linked with negative conditions such as substandard housing, homelessness, inadequate nutrition and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of access to health care, unsafe neighborhoods, and underresourced schools which adversely impact our nation’s children." Consequently, children and teens who are in poverty, also have a greater risk of dropping out of school, being abused and neglected by their peers or people around them, doing poorly in academic performances, health problems, behavioral and socioemotional problems, and are behind on their learning and developmental skills than their peers. "Some behavioral problems may include impulsiveness, difficulty getting along with peers, aggression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder" (American Psychological Association, 2015). Not only that, emotional problems can occur which leads to depression, anxiety, chronic stress, and having low self-esteem on themselves, which is a problem because "Chronic stress associated with living in poverty has been shown to adversely affect children’s concentration and memory which may impact their ability to learn." 

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Education in an early childhood setting is crucial because it's the core foundation in a child's life. Without education, children will not be able to have the cognitive and learning abilities to carry on in their lives, or be able to finish school along with their peers. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, the Virginia and Leonard Marx professor of child development and education, and is director of the Center for Young Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Greg J. Duncan, a professor of education and social policy, and is a faculty associate at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, stated that "Low income during the preschool and early school years exhibits the strongest correlation with low rates of high school completion, as compared with low income during the childhood and adolescent years. Poor-quality schooling, which is correlated with high neighborhood poverty, may exacerbate this effect." (The Effects of Poverty on Children, 1997, p. 14). Having the lack of access to quality ECE for low-income children, affects on how children are receiving the knowledge and resources to help them transition to higher education. Being homeless or having an unsafe environment are some of the examples on how children and families are not able to have the access to quality ECE or able to do well in school. For an example, being homeless leads to health problems, and not having a home or food affects a child's well-being which then affects how they act or interact in both the classroom and with other children. It's harder for them to interact with other children as they feel neglected and abused of being homeless or not having the same access as those who are not poor and are able to do well in school.

References:

American Psychological Association. (2015). "Poverty". Effects of Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness on Children and Youth. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx

Gunn-Brooks, J. and Duncan, J. G. (1997, Summer/Fall). The Effects of Poverty on Children. Retrieved from: https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/07_02_03.pdf