Effect of poverty on child health, development and educational outcome
Poverty has been defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts. According to World Bank, improvised people are those living on less than $1.25 (£0.83) a day. International community defines poverty as not only lack of means to barely get by but also lack of critical assets for human development, especially health and education (Alkire, 2007).
Having defined what poverty is, it is clear that improvised parents will be incapacitated to give their children quality life and education. There is a very high correlation between your income and the quality of life you will live. And for this reason, it is important to look at some of the effects of poverty on a child.
Effect of poverty on child health
Increase child mortality rate: Child mortality is most rampant among the improvised family. And the reason isn’t far from their inability to give their children nutritious food and good health care. Some children have gone to an early grave because of the poor finance of their parents.
Unhealthy children: Children living below the poverty threshold are unhealthier than nonpoor children due to less nutritious food supplies and access to good healthcare service.
Effect of poverty on child development
A child develops better where there are a good family structure and quality parenting. The inability of parents to purchase resources and goods, schools, food, housing, and safe environments necessary for their child’s development may result into higher parent psychological distress, parenting stress, and reduced ability to provide effective caregiving. And this may affect the child’s development. Every child needs caring and loving parents to develop in life.
Parents’ inability to provide safe environment may also affect the development of a child. A safe and healthy environment hastens good developmental growth in children.
Effect of poverty on child education
Most children from a poor family attend low-performing schools and eat less nutritious food. There is a correlation between a nutritious food and cognitive performance in children. Bourre observed that there is a relationship between cognitive performance and vitamins in children. For example, vitamins B12, B6, A, and E ensure a better visuospatial memory and improve abstraction test results. This means a child not fed a balanced diet will lack necessary vitamins to aid his/her cognitive performance.
Learning disabilities and developmental delays occur more in children living below the poverty threshold.
Education, as we all know, is expensive and to have a quality education one must live above the poverty threshold. It is a fact that most low-performing schools where poor children attend have more unprofessional teachers than schools where nonpoor children attend.
Financial capability of ones’ parents can determine ones academic attainment and achievements in life.
