Negative Effects Of Homelessness

The United States is divided into three different classes when classifying a group by their income. The classes are the High class, the middle class, and the low class. People who live in the high and middle classes have every day struggles similar to people living in the lower class have; but one thing that fluctuates is the types of struggles people in poorer class have to face proceeding on an everyday basis. For example, not knowing if they will have food on the table for their children, heat for their house in the winter, or have a roof over their head by the end of the month. Unfortunately to every difficulty there is always a gray area over looked. When dealing with poverty, children are often the ones left in that gray area with no

As Roy Grant clarifies, “Child poverty increased from 16% in 1979 to 22% in 1983, with an inner-city child poverty rate of 31%. Families with young children headed by a single parent were the most vulnerable;” Grant also explains the effects that these types of conditions have on a child. ”Homelessness is an especially powerful negative life event for a child because it is generally associated with multiple stressors, including loss of property, disruption of school and community relationships, and dramatic changes in family routine.72 Studies by Bassuk and Rubin73 and Bassuk74 in the Boston area showed that half of homeless school-age children met criteria for a diagnosed psychiatric disorder based on screen with a standardized instrument. Children who screened positive for symptoms of depression frequently had symptom severity exceeding that of children treated for depression at community clinics”(2, 4). People often don’t think about the child’s mental conditions when the child is constantly living with the ups and downs of living in poverty and that the severity of it all can affect them for the rest of their