How does poverty affect a child’s development?

Poverty is something that affects a person in multiple aspects of their life. Unfortunately, something that most of us are blissfully unaware of is just how greatly growing up in poor households can influence and impact a child’s health and cognitive development. Poverty affects all aspects of one’s childhood from their friendships, to the lack of opportunities and often having to deal with stigma and isolation at a young age.

Lower-income households are at a higher risk of physical ailments such as malnutrition, many preventable diseases and also mental ailments later in adulthood. In terms of cognitive development, poverty harms the development of one’s mind and body as economic hardships can alter the brain structure while developing. Children who are directly or indirectly exposed to risk factors associated with poverty are at a higher risk of health problems as adults including heart problems, hypertension, etc. and even a shorter life expectancy.

Additionally, there is a high risk of the child’s mental health being neglected, and poverty-stricken families are more likely to be affected by challenges with mental health and mental illness. These problems often impair the child’s academic achievement and their ability to succeed in school. Violence, or even indirect exposure to it by witnessing such an act or even knowing its existence, has been shown to have unfavourable developmental outcomes. Unfortunately, both stress and poverty are consistent factors for child abuse, and these children are often exposed to multiple real-world problems in life that they probably aren’t grown enough to understand. Child abuse, partner violence and lack of coping strategies being common in poverty leads to the children being traumatized. Children who go through such traumatic events are way more likely to develop various health and behavioural issues.

Apart from all this, poverty also affects the kid's learning capacities. Firstly, children experiencing poverty have a very high chance of developing problems with speech, learning and/or emotional development. Additionally, a significant difference between the speech development and vocabulary of a child with parents who have pursued higher education compared to a child whose parents don’t have a high school diploma has been noticed. Not only their genes, but the environment and their parents’ education also in a way, multiplies the difficulties faced by these children.

Moreover, children struggling with poverty often have a tougher time even focusing on school. Children from poorer backgrounds might not have the same opportunities as their classmates due to the financial restraints they face.  School activities that are designed to be fun for the kids, end up becoming a source of tension and burden for some families, as poverty often comes into play denying these children the opportunity of fostering interests and talents or even going on school trips. Many of these children have to work part-time jobs themselves and might be unable to have the same supplies as their classmates.  For some families, the cost of education and school supplies might be too much when compared to what it yields in return, leading the children to either stay home or work full time themselves. In several cases, there are other stressors in these children’s lives such as added responsibility for the house and/ or siblings along with their well-being in general, that overpower their want for learning. Living in poverty often limits one’s access to healthcare and also work and educational opportunities. For those living in such situations, safety and well-being are a bigger and more immediate concern for them rather than their future.

Along with their financial standing, these children often have to face more difficulties in life and learning, which leads to them being a target for ridicule and bullying. They are often targeted by not only the fellow kids for looking different, but also by the teachers who pick on them and single them out in the name of ‘discipline’. Unfortunately, a lot of these innocent children fall victim to criminal gangs and get roped into the wrong stuff, simply to get rid of their financial worries.

Thus, one is left to wonder how many Issac Newtons, Mozarts and Serena Williams have gone unnoticed due to their economic standing.

So, what can be done to actually improve this?

One of the leading strategies being practised currently to effectively break these intergenerational curses of poverty is the two-generation approach. This approach aims to improve the families’ financial status by supporting the parents as not only parents but also workers. If parents of children struggling with poverty are given better chances to receive higher education, it increases their likeliness to receive and compete for higher pay to provide for their children better. Furthermore, if these parents are given quality child care and access to important resources like children’s therapy, their children’s development will improve.

Additionally, the aforementioned health problems that are widely found in people struggling with poverty can be reduced by ending intergenerational poverty. So, by helping two current generations gain the resources and support they need to pursue an education and reach their potential, multiple future generations are helped in escaping this cycle of poverty. 

 About the Author:

Ananya Singh, a member of the Psycreative column is a First Year student of BSc Applied Psychology in JDSOLA, NMIMS. 

With her ever-changing interests, you could find her fangirling over anything ranging from Marvel to 1D to the Harry Potter series and Formula One. Although, if you bring up any of her interests then just know you're going to be in that conversation for quite a while. In conversations, if Ananya hears anything which reminds her of a lyric then she would take you through the song. 

Her love of reading and writing has been fostered since she was in primary and has only grown exponentially since. Being a night owl and a coffee lover, Ananya is a person who is approachable at all hours of the night, it is her 'most productive time' according to her.

References:

 All4kids. (2021a, November 29). Children in Poverty – Poverty and its Effects on Children. All for Kids. https://www.allforkids.org/news/blog/poverty-and-its-effects-on-children/

What are the effects of child poverty? | The Children’s Society. (n.d.). https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/ending-child-poverty/effects-of-living-in-poverty