McKenzie 1

Michael McKenzie

Mrs. Russell

College Writing 1

4 October 2018

Poverty and the effects it has on Child Development

Families living in poverty are struggling to provide for themselves. Their financial

situation is already difficult on the family but being stuck in a life of poverty has a harder

impact on the children growing up with it. The development of these children is greatly

affected by the financial situation they are growing up in and takes away many

opportunities that they could have in a more privileged social class. There are multiple

factors that go into affecting the development of a child living in poverty. Social

programs bring an easier life to children and their families while other factors continue to

leave a bad impact. These factors in the development of a child living in poverty decide

whether they will be successful or struggle in their adult life.

The education that a school provides is one of the most important factors in the

development of a child. For children living in poverty, a strong education becomes

something of a dream. Whether that is because of the location or the financial situation

of the family, it has a big impact on how education is provided. Children need education

to help escape the poverty they were unwilling forced into. “The effect of education and

related investments in individuals is to help them overcome the restraints that are

imposed by their environment” (Galbraith 507). It's important to invest in children, and

more importantly in their education, so we can better their future by helping them grow.
 McKenzie 2

The government notices the importance of education and has put programs into effect

to help children in poverty. These programs help families in poverty provide their

children with a chance at a good education. These antipoverty programs include Head

Start, which provides federal funds to schools to help children advance, and the Federal

Pell Grant Program, which is aimed at helping students with a low-income pay for

college. Education can be provided through charity such as colleges provided by those

in upper classes. An example of this is Carengie’s charity towards colleges, “He

founded Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, gave considerable sums to Scottish

universities and to his hometown in Scotland...and at universities” (Jacobus​ ​483).

Charity is an important factor in helping children and their families living in poverty and

have a more stable household. Only then the children living in poverty can have a more

developed education.

Poverty has a large impact on the future successions of children growing up in a

poor household.​ ​Living in a lower social class without any aid takes away the

necessities a child needs to prosper later on in life. Luckily, the government has noticed

that families living in these situations are struggling and need assistance so they put

forth anti-poverty programs. These programs help families with basic necessities that

they can not provide for themselves. These include the Temporary Assistance for

Needy Families, Medicare and Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program,

and WIC. These programs provide security for the families and help support the children

as much as possible yet they do have their negative effects. The Temporary Assistance

for Needy Families is an example of a negative effect that anti-poverty programs can
 McKenzie 3

have on a family. “TANF was designed to encourage unemployed or low-income

parents to find jobs instead of staying home with their children” (National Debate Topic

2009-10). These have downsides with forcing parents to focus less on their own

children and more on bringing in money. Although they are having less of a connection

with their parents, children can grow up having more security with these anti-poverty

programs compared to if they lived without the help they need. The future success of

these children are being affected by more than a lack of money and a disconnection

from their parents.

The biggest uncontrollable factor for children living in poverty is the area they live

in. These areas of poverty are called insular poverty and those living in it have a difficult

time escaping. Families get stuck in these areas of insular poverty and the unavailability

of jobs makes it more difficult to escape. “If there are jobs outside the ghetto or away

from the rural slum…[they] can take them and escape. If there are no such jobs, none

can escape” (Galbraith 504). Without access to work, families in poverty can not bring in

any money keeping them stuck in the areas of insular poverty. Alongside this these

families get stuck in places of poverty because of cities creating housing choice

vouchers. Housing choice vouchers create areas of insular poverty by putting families

living in poverty together. These areas of insular poverty then become a poor place for

children to develop themselves in.

Poverty makes it difficult for children living with it to prosper in their adult life. A

multitude of factors go into providing children with a childhood that will provide them

with a successful future. Education being one of the most important factors towards the
 McKenzie 4

development of a child as they grow up. Government anti-poverty programs try to help

with their lack to basic necessities. Everything has a catch and with the government's

anti-poverty programs the children of families living with benefits are being negatively

impacted while having support that secure necessities for poverty stricken children. This

all ties back to the areas of insular poverty that these families are living in and having a

difficult time escaping from without the proper help. Children living in poverty have to

worry about the factors that are keeping them from furthering themselves for a

successful adult life.

 McKenzie 5

Works Cited

Carnegie, Andrew. "The Gospel of Wealth." 1889. A World of Ideas: Essential

Readings for College Writers, edited by Lee A. Jacobus, 9th ed., PDF ed.,

Boston, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013, pp. 485-95.

Galbraith, John Kenneth. "The Position of Poverty." 1969. A World of Ideas:

Essential Readings for College Writers, edited by Lee A. Jacobus, 9th ed.,

PDF ed., Boston, Bedford/St. Martins', 2013, pp. 501-08.

Jacobus, Lee A. "John Kenneth Galbraith: The Position of Poverty (Introduction)." 2013.

A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers,​ edited by Jacobus, 9th

ed., PDF ed., Boston, Bedford/St. Martins, 2013, pp. 499-501.

"National Debate Topic 2009-10: Poverty and Social Services: Resolved: The U.S.

federal government should substantially increase social services for

persons living in poverty in the United States." Issues and Controversies,

Infobase Learning, 12 June 2009. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.