The Causes and Impacts of Child Poverty - Research Proposal Example

The Causes and Impacts of Child Poverty Keywords: Causes, Impacts, Child and Poverty Poverty can be defined as acondition whereby people have inadequate income and resources. A number of factors work together to bring about inadequate resources. These include low paying work, shortage of work and inadequate benefits from the government. These prevent households from living according to the standards that the society they live in considers acceptable. Key causes of poverty Unemployment is a major cause of poverty in the United Kingdom. This is because people have to pay bills even when they have no income at all. This makes them to live in unacceptable conditions. Low paid work is another cause of poverty; this is true because the cost of living is high and low pay at work only flatters to deceive because it leaves the affected with a deficit in their monthly budget that they cannot cover unless they work two shifts a day. Inadequate benefits for the jobless people also make them to wallow in poverty because they are forced to make do with the little that they are offered. For example, getting 65% of the amount they were supposed to receive is a big blow for any of the needs they might have wanted to fulfill. Key impacts of poverty Poverty destroys childhood, children deprived of the most important things in their early life. They end up lacking education as well while some may be forced into crime at an early age as a means of survival just because they are unable to achieve their needs. Families are broken because of poverty as they cannot guarantee each other survival so it means everyone breaks away to find a means of survival that could include prostitution for the mother and crime for the husband. The children having been deserted could end up in the streets in the alleys as well. Entire communities are faced with problems due to poverty as they cannot control the rate at which the members of their society turn to crime as a means of survival. And since there is no proper education, they cannot even dialogue to have a way forward with their problems. Notes Richard Wilkinson analyses data and shows the things that might go wrong when the gap between the rich and the poor is too large. He finds that trust, life span and health are threatened by the huge gap between the high income earners and the low income earners. The local authorities are active in the quest to try and end child poverty as their reports show that they have been reducing the poverty in children annually in a bid to eradicate it completely. If the program is sustained, there is a high chance that the rate of poverty in children will be greatly reduced. Reducing the educational attainment gap has become a major goal where the fight against poverty is concerned because education is the key that can aid the elimination of poverty as most people would agree. The Joseph Rowntree foundation is working hard to help children get credible education that would help have intellectual brilliance. This is important because they might not have money in the future but they definitely have the brains to work thei way out of poverty. A draft of the introduction Poverty is the condition in which people live without having the minimum amount of resources to help them live comfortably. This is usually due to low income at their places of work, the government giving less than the amount of benefits set aside for them or even shortage of employment opportunities from which they can earn a living. This causes them to have low quality health care, poor or no housing and maybe stigmatized from social events due to their status as the poor. Children who live in households with an income of less than 60% of the national average (below poverty line) are referred to as poor children. However, child poverty should take into account whether a child has access to a good education, good home and a stable family. Child poverty constitutes the greatest threat to the well being of children and families. Introduction Poverty can be defined as a condition whereby people have inadequate income and resources. A number of factors work together to bring about inadequate resources. These include low paying work, shortage of work and inadequate benefits from the government. These prevent households from living according to the standards that the society they live in considers acceptable. As a result, these people may be unemployed, have low income, have poor housing and are unable to afford quality healthcare. Poor people are likely to be stigmatized and excluded from socioeconomic and cultural activities. Living in poor families decreases a child’s expectations of their life. This may lead to a cycle of poverty whereby generation after generation lives in poverty. As adults, these children are likely to be unemployed, homeless and involved in antisocial behaviors like crime and substance abuse. In order to break this cycle, there is need to invest in education through which development of skills is possible. Children who live in households with an income of less than 60% of the national average (below poverty line) are referred to as poor children. However, child poverty should take into account whether a child has access to a good education, good home and a stable family. Child poverty constitutes the greatest threat to the well being of children and families. This is because it affects the social, educational and personal development of a child. In the UK, about 3.5 million children are estimated to be living in poverty. Poverty Unemployment, low paid work and inadequate benefits are the causes of poverty in the UK today. According to Child Poverty Action Group; in 2009/10, 42% of all families below UK poverty line contained no working members while 58% contained at least 1 working member and jobless individuals entitled to benefits and tax credit only received 65% of the amount they required in order to live above the UK poverty line (n/d). Statistics show that a child is likely to be at risk of poverty if they live in a household where there is only one parent. This could be attributed to the possibility of the parent feeling isolated and stigmatized by the community. They are also likely to be in poor physical and mental health leading them to be socially excluded. Children from ethnic minority groups are likely to be poor as majority of these families have no working members. Disability is also a cause for child poverty. This is because it is costly to take care of a disabled member of a household and it is therefore likely that most of the family income will go into paying hospital bills, buying medicine and specialized equipment for them. Family size is also a contributing factor to child poverty. Studies have shown that children living in households with more than three children are poorer than their counterparts living in smaller households and having the same income. This is because the household income is further divided. Poor and shared housing predisposes children to poverty in that, these are likely to be located in dangerous neighborhood further exposing children to violence and poor quality of social amenities like play grounds. Poverty destroys childhood, families and entire communities. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2008) explains that children from poor households are likely to have lower educational aspirations and are likely to drop out of school early. The chances of teenage pregnancies, substance abuse and antisocial behaviors increase with poor education. As adults, individuals with poor education are less productive. This negatively affects their economic status as well as the country’s capacity to globally compete. Poverty is linked with accessibility to adequate healthcare. This contributes to ill health which in contributes to poverty. Low income is linked with poor maternal health resulting in birth of premature and low birth weight babies who are likely to have poor nutrition leading to poor mental and physical health. Children from poor families are less likely to be employed or they may work as unskilled laborers who are paid poorly. Poverty predisposes individuals to risk taking behavior and behaviors that are related with mental illness like suicidal tendencies. Children born of criminals are likely to be juvenile delinquents and later adult criminals. Poverty also affects social behaviors. Poor children are likely to suffer from low self esteem which affects how they relate to others ( pp.4-6). Poverty is the lack of resources like income, wealth, education, good health as well as social capital. In developed countries like the UK, poverty is understood in relation to the living standards of the society. Children living in households with incomes below the national poverty line are likely to have poor mental and physical health. They are likely to have poor educational outcomes and as a result likely to be unemployed and as a result remain resource poor. Their future generations are likely to suffer the same fate. Poverty predisposes children to antisocial behaviors like crime and substance abuse. These behaviors bring about the degradation of the society’s morals. Factors that increase the chance of a child growing up in poverty in the UK include single family composition, disability, social housing, ethnicity, unemployment and low income as well as the geographical location. References CHILD POVERTY ACTION GROUP. (n.d.). Poverty: journal of the Child Poverty Action Group. London, CPAG. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (2012). Child Poverty. Retrieved from online website: www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/childpoverty Griggs, J., & Walker, R. (2008). The costs of child poverty for individuals and society: a literature review. Water End, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation. JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION. (2008). The Costs of Child Poverty on Individuals & Society. A Literature Review, Retrieved from www.jrf.org.uk/system/files/2301-child-poverty-costs.pdf TAQ 1- Essay review During the drafting of this essay, the work developed easily because it involved the use of the keywords to determine the shape of the essay. The work looked more and more relevant as the questions about child poverty were answered to their absolute best. An example is when discussing the causes of child poverty as well as their impacts on the children and the society at large. It gave the bigger picture of the real situation at hand. There is no better way of creating a mental image of the current situation than using statistics on the actual society in real time. It is important to edit and redraft an essay because by critical reading, one gets to identify the mistakes they had made during the drafting of the paper and is able to get a high quality result by editing. It gives the writer a second chance at perfecting what they had written before. Read More