Children And Poverty: Human Services Problem In The United States

“Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter” (“What is Poverty,” 2016). In the United States, there are 45 million Americans are living in poverty (“45 Million Americans,” 2014). In order to determine if one is living in poverty, the United States Census Bureau has established a poverty line that they then measure, according to the individual’s income and their family size (“Poverty Thresholds,” 2016; “Poorest Cities in America,” 2016). Since the recession in 2008, many states have seen a rise of families living in poverty. Poverty is a vicious cycle and has devastating effects on young children.

Poverty is where one person or a group of people don’t have enough money and recourses to meet needs that are considered acceptable in the general public. Although there has been effort to prevent poverty, it is still rampant around the world. 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day while 1.3 billion of those people live on less than $1.50 a day. Poverty also affects children. Every 4 seconds a child dies of poverty. 1 billion children live in poverty. Two examples of world powers with large populations but still have child poverty are the United States and Brazil. The poverty line in the United States for a family of four is $23,550. [Federal Poverty Level 2013-2014]. The poverty line

The face of poverty is changing in the United States. When someone mentions that a person is living in poverty, we are inclined to think of a bum living on the street, eating at shelters, and using whatever money they have for alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Usually we visualize this person as being a middle-aged male with drab clothing and a long beard. This description may have fit the average person living in poverty or on the street a few years ago, but it is no longer a correct generalization. Children are the face of poverty in 2015. These children have little chance to rise up out of the lifestyle they are born into. Many of these children are born to teenage girls. The economic states of these mothers and their lifestyles many times

In the introduction of this essay we will be looking at ‘what is child poverty?’ Poverty is often associated with the third world and developing countries where death from starvation and disease is the outcome. This kind of poverty is rarely seen in the UK though. Child poverty is unfortunately a result of adult poverty with Child poverty having lifelong consequences. There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today, that’s 27 per cent of children or more than one in four (department for work and pensions, 2013.) Poverty in the UK is about a lack of resources, lack of capital both income and wealth. But it can also be resource poor such as; education and good health

We all know what it means to be poor, it means to be short of money, unable to afford many of services that other people of the society can. Child poverty means to be living in a family where they are having hard time making ends meet. As one of the richest country, 3.9 million children in the UK living in poverty is apalling.2 What is even worse is London, the capital city, having ‘the highest rate of child poverty of any English region.’3

In a valley known for such wealth and prosperity, there is a growing rate of child poverty. Child poverty is very visible and could be practically eliminated by building more affordable housing for families, creating more jobs to give people a chance to get above the poverty line and, raising the minimum wage to help low income families make enough money to support themselves and their families.

Fifty-five percent of boys and sixty-six percent of girls miss out on at least one of the three meals were meant to have a day. Child poverty in the first three years of life is related to substandard nutritional status and poor motor skills; poverty is also associated with childhood obesity- as they get older, poor children are more likely to have chronic health problems, such as asthma and anaemia. (American Psychological Association, 2018).

When thinking of poverty, many people first think of third world countries like Africa. What people may not know is the amount of people living in the United States in poverty, especially children. There are over sixteen million children living in poverty; the poverty line is considered to be below $23,550 a year for a family of four. The amount of children living in poverty today is twenty-two percent of all children in the United States (“Child Poverty”). With such a large number of people in the country in fiscally unstable environments, it can easily be seen that they also are susceptible to other problems; one major concern being obesity. Two major contributors to this problem are poor nutrition, because of the lack of nutritious

All over the world, there are children suffering due to the way of life they were born into. There are children that are living in poverty, living without knowing what a better life could be. Our great country, the United States of America, gifts my generation stability. I am thankful everyday because I know what my life could be like if I lived in an undeveloped country. Instead I live in a great country, the United States, where I have rights that children in other countries don’t have. There are brave soldiers in America that make the decision to risk their lives so we are able to have a meaningful life.

Nelson Mandela once said, "Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future." (Nepaul). Yet, in 2014, 31.4 million American children lived in low-income households and 15.4 million lived in poor families (phys.org). By 2016, the number of children living in poverty still stay the same. In fact, it even shows sign of increasing when nearly half of children in America are living dangerously close to the poverty line, where their families barely make enough to afford the most basic needs (phys.org). Looking at these statistics, it is clear that we need to these children and their families. And in order to do so, we first need to change our attitudes towards the poor and create more effective plans, such as...

There have been a serious issue in this country of child poverty that I think that should be resolved and taken care of. Have you heard in the news that children are suffering from malnutrition up to 160 days of illness a year? That’s a big number, and plus that’s not even the half of deaths of children a year. 12.4 million children, are food insecure and at risk of hunger. Children is not getting enough of food to eat, due to the fact that their parents do not have the funds to provide for them. Did you know that 22.4% of Black and 17.8% of Latino households experience food insecurity over the course of the year, as compared to 8.1% of White households. In the black culture, there are struggling single-mothers that have to strive for their

Poverty is quite an issue not only in third world countries but also here in the United States. Interviews were conducted with 74 families with school-age children, including 44 families living at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and 30 families living above 150% of poverty (Heymann 5). Over 14 million U.S. children lived in poverty in 1997 (Sherman and Sandfort 555).

For the purpose of this assignment I shall be discussing what child poverty is, the factors of child poverty in the United Kingdom and how child poverty will be tackled. In the UK families have a prime responsibility to nurture and care for their children through various development stages (UNICEF 2012 ). Child poverty can happen from the break up of families, being in debt, poor education or unfortunately an orphan or born in to the situation (BBC, 2012). All children have the right to embark on the best possible start to life, within a secure and happy environment with support into adulthood and the opportunity for potential.

Poverty is defined as “the state of being extremely poor.” (Oxford 699) In 2014, “21.1 percent of children under age 18 (15.5 million) in the United States lived in poverty. This group of children represent 23.3 percent of the total population and 33.3 percent of people in poverty. (DE-Navas 14) This group contributes to “generational poverty” which is not as clearly defined. There is not much distinction made between “temporary poverty”, “situational poverty” and “generational poverty”. This can contribute to a lack of understanding of the realities experienced. Generational poverty is largely accepted to be the term used for families who have lived in poverty for two or more generations, where children of parents in poverty grow up to live in poverty themselves. Education is consistently an issue in this population where it can be common to not have any family member that has been educated beyond middle school years. Not only is this a unique group in society, they have very distinct stressors that

Poverty is a considerable social problem; with a significant impact on those who suffer within. Growing up in poverty “reduces a child’s chance of growing up to be a healthy, well-adjusted, and contributing adult in our society” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 59). Poverty is families having to struggle to afford necessities. Poverty does not know where your next meal is coming from or having to choose between paying rent and seeing a health care provider. The impact of poverty affects one’s ability through physical, social, emotional, and educational health. Even though individual overcome poverty it still extends across cultural, racial, ethnic, and geographical borders. Children represent the largest group of poverty in the United States. “Growing up in poverty places a child at a profound disadvantage and substantially lowers the chances that the child will mature into a well-adjusted, productive, and contributing