The Critical Theory Of Childhood Poverty

Childhood poverty has increased to its highest point in 20 years (Holland, 2014) and become a major concern and issue in the United States. Since 2007-2009 poverty has increased 2.3 percentage points for white children and 6.4 percentage points for Hispanics (Lopez, & Velasco, 2011). The Children’s defense fund states that 1in5 children in America are poor. This increase is putting millions of children at an increased risk of injury or death (Holland, 2014). The U.S. has been fighting the war on poverty for over fifty years and there has not been much progress. Besides health, poverty affects many other aspects of a child’s life and development, but it especially affects their cognitive and education ability. The educational and cognitive gaps

Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group and will soon be the bulk of the U.S. work force. Without education these people will not be able to get jobs and everyone will be affected. The theoretical perspective used in this paper is one of critical race theory, however, it could be viewed through the lens of Critical theory when discussing childhood poverty as a whole. The National Center for Children in Poverty (2015), states that poverty rates are

Poverty in childhood is not optimal for child development and is associated with a broad range of problems in physical, cognitive and social-emotional development in children (Aber, Morris, & Raver, 2012). Childhood poverty is the cause of low educational attainment, child abuse, neglect, mental illness and generational poverty. These results of poverty are especially hard on Hispanic children. The educational gap, between Hispanics and their White peers, begins before age three and continues throughout their school career. By eighth grade 80% or more of Hispanics cannot read or do math at grade level (CDF, 2012). “More than 1 in 5 victims of child abuse and neglect in 2010 were Hispanic” (CDF, 2012). The U. S. is seeing many more children and families suffering from mental health conditions that are a factor but also a result in their poverty. Smith, Stagman, Blank, Ong, & McDow, (2011), states that 9-14 % of children under age 6 experience behavior and emotional problems and the percentage is higher for those living in poverty. There are so many factors that affect childhood poverty and contribute to the cause of it that policies need to address multiple factors. The main factor, besides wages and lack of jobs, is the education of parents and children, especially Hispanic. Besides the above mentioned factors and