More about poverty effects

The effects of poverty are serious.

Children who grow up in poverty suffer more
-persistent
-frequent
-severe health problems

than do children who grow up under better
financial circumstances.

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Many infants born into poverty have a low birth weight
which is associated with many preventable mental and physical disabilities.

Not only are these poor infants more likely to be irritable or sickly,
they are also more likely to die before their first birthday.


Children raised in poverty tend to :
miss school more often because of illness.

These children also have a much higher rate of accidents than do other children, and they are twice as likely to have impaired vision and hearing, iron deficiency anemia, and higher than normal levels of lead in the blood, which can impair brain function.

Levels of stress in the family have also been shown to correlate with economic circumstances.
Studies during economic recessions indicate that job loss a
nd subsequent poverty are associated with violence in families,
including child and elder abuse.

Poor families
experience much more stress than middle-class families.
Besides financial uncertainty, these families are more likely to
be exposed to series of negative events and “bad luck,” including
illness, depression, eviction, job loss, criminal victimization, and
family death. Parents who experience hard economic times
may become excessively punitive and erratic, issuing demands
backed by insults, threats, and corporal punishment.

Homelessness, or extreme poverty,
carries with it a particularly strong set of risks for families,
especially children. Compared to children living in poverty
but having homes, homeless children are less likely to receive
proper nutrition and immunization. Hence, they experience
more health problems. Homeless women experience higher
rates of low-birth-weight babies, miscarriages, and infant
mortality, probably due to not having access to adequate
prenatal care for their babies. Homeless families experience
even greater life stress than other families, including increased
disruption in work, school, family relationships, and friendships.

Sociologists have been particularly concerned about the
effects of poverty on the “black underclass,” the increasing
numbers of jobless, welfare-dependent African Americans
trapped in inner-city ghettos. Many of the industries (textiles, auto, steel)
that previously offered employment to the black working class have shut down,
while newer industries have relocated to the suburbs. Because most urban
jobs either require advanced education or pay minimum wage, unemployment
rates for inner-city blacks are high.


feminization of poverty
may be related to numerous changes in contemporary America.
Increases in unwanted births, separations, and divorces have
forced growing numbers of women to head poor households.
Meanwhile, increases in divorced fathers avoiding child support
coupled with reductions in welfare support have forced many of
these women-headed households to join the ranks of the underclass.
Further, because wives generally live longer than their husbands,
growing numbers of elderly women must live in poverty.