According to Hodgkinson et al, there are “disparities in poverty rates depending on age, race or ethnicity, family structure, and geographic location. Although the largest number of poor and low income children are white, minority children are disproportionately affected, particularly African American, American Indian, and Hispanic children. In 2013, Hispanic and African American children were ~3 times more likely than white and Asian children to be poor. Children raised by single parents and children raised in the South or West are also more likely to be poor or low income than children residing in the Northeast” (Hodgkinson et al, 2016). Children and youth are a vulnerable population because they have no control over their situation or environment;
“The greatest predictor of whether Americans are poor is not geography, however; the greatest predictors are race-ethnicity, education, and the sex of the person who heads the family.” (Henslin, 2013, p. 212). Race-ethnicity is one of the strongest factors of poverty. There is a common stereotype that Latinos and African Americans are the most poor; however, the Caucasians in America are the most poor. There are a smaller percentage of poor Caucasians, but there are a larger total number of Caucasians as a collective ethnic race within America causing them to have a lower percentage than other races, but they have the poorest people in America.
The official poverty rate is 13.5 percent based on the U.S Census Bureau’s 2015 estimates, that same year an estimated 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty. (U.S Census Bureau) There are millions of Americans that go unnoticed to society and government due to their low financial stability and poor living situations. They constantly deal with low provisions, low employment, bad health, and high rates of poverty. Majority of this happens to the minorities in this country, and it dates back since the 1900’s. The minorities being the last to be concerned about, but since then low income communities have been generified, which has improved the living conditions bring in more people, jobs, and better housing, but it still takes years for the
Income inequality and segregation has and will have a dramatic effect on upward social mobility and opportunity equality for kids. More families live in uniformly affluent neighborhoods or in uniformly poor neighborhoods and fewer of them live in mixed or moderate-income neighborhoods. Even when poor and wealthier schoolchildren live in the same school district, they are increasingly likely to attend separate and unequal schools (Curtis, 2017). Lower-income kids need not only talk but also all the help that they can get to break out of the cycle of opportunity inequality that victimizes them in this day and age. Over the past several decades an “opportunity gap” has grown between kids from “have” and “have not” backgrounds.
African American children are three times more likely to live in poverty than Caucasian children. American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian families are more likely than Caucasian and Asian families to live in poverty (Costello, Keeler, & Angold, 2001; National Center for Education Statistics, 2007). Unemployment rates for African Americans are typically double those of Caucasian Americans. African American men working full time earn 72 percent of the average earnings of comparable Caucasian men and 85 percent of the earnings of Caucasian women (Rodgers, 2008). A criminal record reduces one 's opportunities for employment; thus, they are more likely to
Within the class of those living in poverty, people of color face the largest ramifications of poverty. All the ethnic minorities in this country combined only make up 37% of the population yet constitute 60% of those living in poverty (Poverty Rates). One question must be answered before finding solutions to this problem: what causes the discrepancy of wealth between ethnic minorities and caucasians? The answer lies in the way social disadvantages become a cumulative process. Simply put, any form of disadvantage gives way more easily to other forms of disadvantages, causing a “magnifying” of effects (Lin, David).
in development, and are not as likely to graduate high school. A shocking number is that every year the child poverty rate persists the nation loses half a trillion dollars. Patti Hassler the Vice President of Communications and Outreach for Children’s Defense says that children of color, who will be the majority of children in American in 2020, continue to be disproportionately poor: 37 percent of Black children and 32 perfect of Hispanic children are poor, contrasted with 12 percent of White children Child poverty has continued to decrease very slowly over the years, but there has been an increase in the amount of Black children who are deemed impoverished. Hassler continues to state that “the younger children are the poorer they are. Nearly
According to Rector and Sheffield 's report, the 200 census said that one out of seven Americans are poor. It also mentions that for the past two decades over 30 million Americans have been living in poverty. Wikipedia defines poverty as the condition of one who does not have a specific measure of material belonging or cash. However, too many average Americans “poverty” means material hardship, failure to supply a family with enough food, a safe place to live, and clothes. The report mentions that many advocates agree with this view and that the news enhances this belief through stories on needy families, individuals living in disintegrating shacks, or lines of the homeless eating in soup kitchens.
Another cause of poverty and lack of income is whether or not children are American citizens. “..immigrants from Asia had a poverty rate of 12.8 percent while 21.9 percent of Latin American immigrants were poor.” It is obvious that there is a big difference in poverty between children who were born in the U.S versus children who were born outside of the U.S. This could be due to the fact that it is harder for people who were born outside of the U.S, immigrants, to time find a job. “Among the children of immigrants, poverty rates in 1999 varied from a low of 9.5 percent among non-Hispanic whites to 32.9 percent among Mexicans.”
“Do some children have advantages that are not available to other children with differing backgrounds? In educational and economic studies, it has been found that background variables including family income, family type, family size, and parents ' education are determinants of the amount and quality of education children receive over their lifetime” (QTD De Serf 3). Not only do these variables have great effect on the achievement of a child 's education, but it 's also notable that ethnic groups plays an important part in the equation. “Blacks ' poverty rates are proportionately higher than whites. With increased poverty, Wilson discusses increases in crime, joblessness, and out-of-wedlock births (1987).
According to the PBS Frontline video “Poor Kids” 2012, more than 46 million Americans are living beneath the poverty line. The United States alone has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the industrialized world. It is stated that 1 out of 5 children are living in poverty. The video documented the lives of three families who are faced with extreme hardships and are battling to survive a life of being poor. All three families have more than one child and could barely afford to pay their bills and purchase food for their household.
Seekamp states, “Poor children complete two fewer years of schooling, work 451 fewer hours per year, earn less than half as much, receive $826 per year more in food stamps as adults, and are more than twice as likely to report poor overall health or high levels of psychological distress(11).” As presented, children who have grown up in poverty are more likely to need financial help in the future. This causes dependency on other people and the government making people not grow in life financially. “5 Ways Poverty Harms Children” by David Murphey and Zakia Redd utters that poor physical, emotional, and behavioral health has been proven to be a consequence of poverty(Murphey and Redd). Due to the lack of resources, including nutrition, many people suffer from the long-lasting negative effects of poverty.
The Effects of Poverty in America “In 2007 about one out of every eight children in America was on food stamps. Today that number is one out of every five” (U.S Census Bureau). This statistic from the U.S Census Bureau illustrates how the poverty level of Americans is getting worse and worse. This statistic explains what every day poor American families must face and that it also greatly affects the lives of their children. In today’s society, America is ailed by the instantaneous increase of Americans living in poverty, causing families to take several risks in order to provide all of their family’s necessities.
In the article, “Changing the Face of Poverty” it is stated that “more than [thirty-five] million Americans – one out of every seven – are officially poor. More than one in five American children are poor and the poor are getting poorer.” (George 676) Among racial and ethnic groups, African Americans had the highest poverty rate, followed by Hispanics and whites. According to The State of Working America, 45.8 percent of young black children live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children.
Who Is Poor, Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division, US Census Bureau, Volume 16, Number 3S46-3S51 Boivin, M., Booij, L, Cote, S., Lambert, J., Mazza, J., Pingault, J-B., Tremblay, R., & Zunzunegui, M. (2017). Poverty and behavior problems during early childhood: The mediating role of maternal depression symptoms and parenting, Vol 41 (6) pages 670-680 Kaplan, S., Madden, V., Mijanovich, T., & Purcaro, E. (2013). The Perception of Stress and its Impact on Health in Poor Communities 38: pages 142-149. DOI1 Burke, L. (2013). Head Start’s sad and costly secret---what Washington doesn’t want you to know, http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/01/14/head-start-sad-and-costlu-secret-what-washington-doesnt-want-to-know.print.html
He insisted that they need to work for political and social change to lift people out of poverty, but the ways to support the families can [also] be part of the picture. Limitations of the study include the fact that parenting and socioeconomic circumstances were only assessed at one time point and also there are not data on brain development and other factors with regards to [the] adolescence that could influence the result. The study also doesn’t prove that poverty can cause differences to the brain development seen among teens or any changes that can be seen over time in an individual children. According to Jamie Hanson of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and who has not involved in the study, the relationship between the environment and biology continues the conversation about the increased risks that is associated with low socioeconomic status, such as poor mental health, physical health, school readiness, academic success, high school completion, and job