Effects of Poverty on Youth - Term Paper Example

Effects of Poverty on Youth Introduction People from different background define poverty in a different way. Poverty is multi-dimensional in nature. In simple terms it is the lack of household income. According to World Bank income below $1.25 a day is treated as poverty line. Poverty basically means the inability of an individual to meet the basic needs like shelter, food, sanitation, water, healthcare and education. United Nations Millennium Summit held in 2000 adopted eight Millennium Development Goals which are to be achieved by 2015. They were to achieve universal primary education and eradicate poverty and hunger. Poverty in today’s world limits the chances of attaining education which is the prime way of escaping poverty. Poverty is a persistent problem which affects many countries and it has a detrimental effect on all aspects of family life and outcomes of their children. This paper looks at the effects of poverty on youth all across the world. Research Methodology There are many controversies surrounding the definition of poverty. First problem is whether poverty should be defined in economic terms or on broader social disadvantage. From economic perspective poverty is defined on income measures. Absolute poverty line is calculated as the amount of food expenditure which is necessary to meet the dietary recommendations along with small allowance for non-food goods. According to researchers poor individuals lack not only health and material assets but also other things like cultural identity, dignity, social belonging, respect, education and information. Poverty also means capability deprivation (Eventual and Gunn, 2000). Poverty is a dynamic process where families sometimes go in and out of poverty zone for a relatively short period of time which results in intermittent poverty instead of persistent poverty. It was seen that out of 30,000 households in Peru, Uganda and India it was seen that around one-third of those who are now poor were not born as poor. They entered into the poverty zone within their lifetime. The causes of poverty consist of two set of factors. One is the change in capabilities of poor people to take actions so as to exercise agency. Agency includes self-confidence, education and collective assets. Another factor is any change in opportunity structure which consists of social structures and institutional climate within which an individual has to work to pursue their interest (Secretariat of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, 2012). Goldstein (1990) reviewed many studies of socioeconomic differentials of cognitive test scores to identify processes through which such differentials are caused. It was seen that a number of factors caused differential in IQ between children of those above poverty and those belonging to below the poverty line (Bellary, 2001). The main cause of differential in IQ was lead absorption, ear problems, anemia and low birth weight. All these are caused due to poverty in the family. According to Stern and Danziger (1990) there is a relationship among family income, child development and family structure. It was found that by keeping the socio-economic status constant, single-parent family can have a small negative effect on IQ of a youth. Hence single or teen parenthood effects the development of youth (Ravallion, 2010). It is also seen Youth who are raised by single parents complete one year less schooling than that of youth who have two-parents. Klebanov, Brooks-Gunn and Duncan (1994) did a detailed research on effects of persistent poverty on youth development. They found out that youth whose families are persistently in poor have lower IQ and exhibit behavioral problems more than youth who experience transitory poverty. These effects are observed when other factors like maternal schooling, family structure are included into the study. Test was also conducted on the effect of youth development on neighborhood characteristics. It was seen that youth with a higher concentration of rich neighbors has a good development than those of youth who have poor neighbors (Shah, 2013). Chase-Lansdale, Michael and Desai (1990) studied the way home environment have effects on development of youth. Cognitive development of youth was measured along with the income level of the family. It was seen that if a child was poor and the average income of the family was low, it affected the cognitive development of the youth. Maternal employment also had an effect on them. If the income of the family is earned by a mother it has an adverse effect on the development of youth because of her inability to play a pivotal role in the development of youth (Bradbury, Jenkins and Micklewright, 2001). Discussion Youth gets affected due to poverty in their family. It refers to development of interdependent skills of cognitive language, sensorimotor and social emotional functioning. The entire above thing depends on the physical well being of the Youth. Many like family context and the social network helps in the process. Youth should be given proper education to move out of poverty line. They should have educational achievement under their belt and have completed their formal schooling. If they remain in poverty then it will have a huge effect on behavioral and emotional self-regulation, communication skills, social skills, pre-academic skills, motivation and curiosity to learn and attention (Kassem, Murphy and Taylor, 2009). Families and Poverty Families are the main socializing agents for the children. They not only provide basic necessities like clothes, shelter, food but they also inculcate family culture, educational values and help the children adapt to societal opportunities and demands. Youth who grew up in poverty experienced double trouble. On one hand they are exposed to risks in their communities and homes like illness, family stress, limited resources and lack of psychosocial stimulation but they also experience more serious risks as compared to youth of higher income families. Such youths has shown lack of development and education in children (Arrighi and Maume, 2007). Direct Effects of Poverty There are direct effects of poverty which influence the development and education of youth due to limiting protective factors and increasing risks. It is seen that many effects of youth are due to influence of their families. As low income families can afford limited education it reduces their ability of providing a responsive stimulating environment. They limit the linguistic environment of youth by using language which contains commands instead of simple structure. Instead of explaining things they use negative comments. Their families tend to use harsh parenting style instead of using interactive styles which promote social competence and emotional development. Youth from poor families are hence less likely to study than their counterparts (Aassve, Billari, Mazzuco and Ongaro, 2003). Conclusion Poverty is a risk factor for the development of the youth. Youth are the future of any nation. Poverty affects the educational outcomes and development process. This risk in Youth continues to have an effect late throughout his lifetime even when the family moves out of poverty zone in later part of his life. Hence it is important for family to find out ways of reducing the poverty which is essential for child’s healthy development. But nor economic growth nor education alone is sufficient for healthy development of youth. Nicholas Stern who was World Bank chief economist warned that investment led growth of economy will not solve the problem of poverty. Today’s youth need to be empowered so that they can themselves fight poverty. Mitigation of poverty not only demands economic solutions but also the implementation of strategies by communities, governments and families which alters the harmful processes. Reference Aassve, A., Billari, F.C., Mazzuco, S. and Ongaro, F. (2003). Leaving home: a comparative analysis of ECHP data. Journal of European Social Policy, 12(4). 259-265. Arrighi, B.A. and Maume, D.J. (2007). Child Poverty in America Today: Children and the state. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. Billari, F. (2001). The analysis of early life courses: complex descriptions of the transition to adulthood. Journal of Population Research, 18(2), 119-128 Bradbury, B., Jenkins, S.P. and Micklewright, J. (2001). The Dynamics of Child Poverty in Industrialised Countries. Cape Town: Cambridge University Press. Kassem, D., Murphy, L. and Taylor, E. (2009). Key Issues in Childhood and Youth Studies. London: Taylor & Francis. Leventhal, T. and Gunn, J.B. (2000). “The neighbourhoods they live in: the effects of neighbourhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes”, Journal of Psychology, Vol. 2(1). Moser, C.O.N. and Jeremy Holland, J. (1997). Urban Poverty and Violence in Jamaica. Washington: World Bank Publications. Ravallion, M. (2010). Poverty Lines across the World. Retrieved from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/3771/WPS5284.pdf?sequence=1. Secretariat of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. (2012). Global Profile of Extreme Poverty. Retrieved from: http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/01/121015-Profile-of-Extreme-Poverty.pdf. Shah, A. (2013). Poverty Facts and Stats. Retrieved from: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats. Read More