It's Time To End Childhood Poverty

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Recommended: The Impact of Poverty on a Child’s Academic Performance

Poverty is defined in many ways. The dictionary definition simply does not suffice to show the human cost of poverty. Poverty is much more than the limited capital resources that this definition suggests. Poverty is defined by the federal government as 16,660 for a family of four in 1998 (“Child Poverty in the United States” 2000). These figures are tremendously flawed; a single individual residing in the United States would not fare well by the standards of most individuals at this income level. Individuals in Laos, Cuba, Ecuador, or many other nations however, would live as kings on this income. Poverty is, therefore a subjective concept far more complicated than a yearly income.

The individual most harshly affected by poverty are those who are the most powerless to do anything about it--children. Research indicates that extreme poverty in the first five years of life alters a child’s chances in life compared to lesser degrees of poverty in later life. This is the result of several key factors. The first problem associated with poverty is poor nutrition. It has been proven that poor nutrition leads to lower intelligence, poor physical development, and diminished immunity to disease. “Children deprived of proper nutrition during the brain’s most formative years score much lower on tests of vocabulary, reading comprehension, arithmetic, and general knowledge. The more severe the poverty a child faces, the lower his or her nutritional level is likely to be (Brown and Pollitt 38-43).” Government assistance to poor families such as WIC help; however, the guidelines for eligibility fall woefully short of making sure that every child has adequate nutrition. As stated previously, the federal guidelines for poverty are ludicrous when applied to real world economics. To further complicate matters, guidelines used by agencies such as the United States Department of Health and Human Services serve to painfully remind the poor that they are a nuisance to be eliminated. A child that goes to school hungry, even if not malnourished, will have greater difficulty focusing their efforts than a well fed one. An individual who is hungry will eventually become hypoglycemic, a condition in which blood sugar levels fall. The symptoms of hypoglycemia range from fatigue, sleepiness, irritability, headache, and decreased mental alertness. Many children that are perceived as ...

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QED

Brown, L. & Pollitt, E. “Malnutrition, poverty and intellectual development”. Scientific American vol 274(2), pp. 38-43.

Chapman, Tracy. “Behind the Wall.” Lyrics Tracy Chapman

Elektra/Asylum records, 1988

“Child Poverty in the United States.” Child Poverty Factsheet. July 2000. National Center

for Children in Poverty, The Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University. 18 April 2001 <http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/ycpf.html>.

Children’s Defense Fund. The State of America’s Children Yearbook 2000. Washington: Children’s Defense Fund, 2000.

”What We Know.” Children and Poverty. May 1997. Canadian Child Care Federation.

23 April 2001 <http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/00000764.htm>.

Murray, Christopher M.D. “WHO Issues New Healthy Life Expectancy Rankings.” 4 June 2000.

25 April 2001 <http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-life.html>.

King, Martin Luther Jr. “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” April 1963.

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