Stressors of Poverty

 We define poverty as not being able to afford food, clothing, or shelter but the definition of poverty is defined depending on where you live. Here in the United States, poverty can be defined as not being able to afford to tend to your health, medicine, transportation, not being educated, or finding a job. For example, what if a summer camp was preparing for an end of the summer trip and it required for families to pay $25 a month per child? A family that is not able to afford this can be considered as being in poverty. By this definition of poverty I and others that were in my community experienced poverty growing up as a child.

There are many programs that help families in need such as WIC, Food stamps, Medicaid, and Subsidized Housing. These programs help you with nutritional necessities for children, food, insurance, and sometimes rent. These are all great resources for help but there is also a downfall to these. A family can make $1 or 25 cents too much and do not qualify for these programs. Families who need help with things these programs provide sometimes just have to do the best they can. One common resource that a lot of people I know used growing up was the Free Health Clinic as a child for health and dental checkups or let alone just didn’t go to the doctor at all unless an emergency occurred.

Growing up, we did have transportation, food, and shelter but we could not afford to keep up with the fashions, participate in many extracurricular activities, or have many family outings including trips. As a child I would always say that when I grew up I would work hard so that I could have more. Being the oldest of three, I would always dream about taking care of my mother and two brothers. Experiencing not being able to have certain things as a child, I see that it still has effects on me. I now still try to take care of my mother and my brothers. As a mother, I buy so many things for my children because I don’t want them to ever go without wanting or needing anything.

Poverty can affect an entire family and their health. Poverty can cause children to “have stunted growth, iron deficiency, and severe asthma.” (Driscoll and Nagel 2010). Not only does poverty effect a child’s well-being but also a child’s education. “A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that for every year a child spends in poverty, there is the chance that the child will fall behind grade level by age 18.” (Driscoll and Nagel 2010).  A child being bullied for the things that they don’t have can cause them to avoid going to school and going out to steal what they want and can’t afford. Some children may have to quit school and work jobs just to help their families out with costs which can cause the future to repeat itself and live just like the past meaning that the children will follow in their parent’s footsteps and grow up continuing the cycle of living in poverty.

Due to poverty in Brazil, the society lack education, housing, health care, and nutrition. One hundred and fifty thousand children under five die every year because of hunger. Thousands of children live on the streets and are abandoned by their parents because they are unable to afford to raise them. In result, these children have turned to drugs, prostitution, and commit crimes in order to survive. In order to help these children, the government has developed programs through the Ministry of Social Assistance to combat the poverty and starvation.

References

Driscoll, A., Nagel, N.G. (2010, July 20). Poverty and the effects on children and families. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/poverty-effects-children-parents/

Kadmiel. (n.d.). Facts & statistics about poverty in Brazil. Retrieved from http://kadmiels.hubpages.com/hub/Poverty-in-Brazil.