Childhood Poverty In The United States

Poverty is a pervasive issue that affects almost 50 million people in the United States. This nation wide issue affects every person in a family and can have the hardest effect on children and their education. For decades poverty's impact on education has been a controversial subject. Many people believe that poverty places no hindrances on a child's education because they feel the child’s education depends solely on their capabilities. However, impoverished children are automatically at a disadvantage due to the fact that they have less money. Without a financially stable family they are not able to afford to go to the nicest school, they may not be able to afford their school supplies, and they may not have the resources at home to expand …show more content…
According to an article written by the Children International charity, only Greece, Mexico, Israel and Turkey have higher child poverty rates than the U.S. (“Facts About Child Poverty”). Part of this issue is the high amount of unequal wealth distribution in the U.S., and poverty occurs more often in rual areas which makes it harder to combat the issue. According to Professor Stephen C. Enwefa at Jackson State University and Robert Jennings, President of A&M University “The greatest numbers of families struggling with poverty live in central cities...rural agricultural areas and...southeastern United States” (Enwefa and Jennings). This issue of poverty being centered in one area also contributes to hardships in a child’s education because these areas especially lack funding for education and improvements are difficult to achieve. Although, many people believe that in developed countries poverty has little to no connection to educational hindrances, poverty directly impacts a child’s education by leading to many learning disabilities and lack of adequate …show more content…
So many people are given the disadvantage of financial stability and these children grow up to be the new generation and if the issue of poverty is not fixed it will only grow. To adequately fix the issue of poverty more programs need to be admitted to help children who live in impoverished situations. These programs should not only offer financial aid for educational purposes but also counseling for mental and emotional well being of the children. Poverty impacts so many people and it is not always as evident as some may think. A family member or even a neighbor could be suffering from financial instability and nobody may not even know and that is an issue that should be controlled. Children do not have control over how much their parents make and that should not effect their education in a detrimental way. It is time that we call attention to the issue of economic inequality and we become more aware that children in many cases face consequences they do not