Poverty On Children

Impacts of Poverty on Children in the 21st Century Many people believe that people in poverty are just lazy with weak work ethics. That, however, is far from the truth. Many factors play a role in why poverty is not all about work ethic, motivation, or even finance management, debunking the misconception. Although the 21st century has many advancements towards the betterment of life, poverty still poses as a threat. Poverty has been and continues to be a key problem throughout the 21st century, stemming from as early as childhood in most families and impacting adulthood critically. The costing impacts of poverty-raised children in the 21st century delays the overall growth of the child, damages their ability to fit in with the collective

Without the basic necessities to properly grow, children raised in poverty tend to have many health issues such as “lower calorie intake, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and physical indication of undernutrition” (Eamon 259). They do not meet the national standards of height for age, weight for height, and rate of weight gain. Lack of proper resources and provisions for the child stunts the growth, as clearly seen in comparison to children who are not indignant. Poverty can also lead to a change in temperament and health concerns. Health concerns may include chronic medical problems and elevated body lead levels. A child temperament, for example, can have effects on parenting practices. Those practices “influence children’s socioemotional development” (Eamon 259). Parenting techniques either influencing them in a positive or negative way by affecting how they manage their emotions, expressions, and relationships with others. As the children mature over time, mismanagement of the key components that make up a child’s socioemotional conditions will most likely prevent them from leading a smooth, successful life. The lasting effects of poverty demonstrate how volatile it is to the human growth and development, proving how severe the impacts are on a child, especially at a young

The brain and biological development is influenced greatly by the environment the child is living in, especially at a young age such as an infant. It determines the coping mechanisms and behavioral issues the child develops. The results of many studies back up the claim that the state of mind is indeed altered due to poverty. One study assessed the short-term spatial memory of a group of children. They had to correctly repeat a series of complex sequences of lights and sounds by pressing four colored pads in a certain order. The results came out to be that “those who grew up in poverty were not able to perform this task as well as those from middle-income backgrounds” (Dallas 1). The outcome of the memory evaluation exhibit that fact that poverty affects the ability to retain information through basic cognitive skills and language.. The people who grew up in poverty could not repeat the series of lights and sounds as well as the people who were not raised in poverty and destitution. The same study asked the participants to try and solve an impossible puzzle to evaluate the sense of helplessness in each candidate. The poverty-raised adults “ gave up 8 percent more quickly than those who weren’t impoverished as children” (Dallas 1). Those who grew in poverty had a poor sense of motivation due to previous experiences growing up penniless. With the results of the studies about poverty, the negative impact of