Growing Up In Poverty Essay

More children are growing up in poverty than ever before, children growing up poor can have lifelong effects on the child. Poverty is a global issue that has caused a lot of debate about what should be done to help people in poverty. Some people think that programs should be put in place to help people get out of poverty, while others think that the current programs are good enough. Most people focus on how to help adults in poverty but children are also greatly impacted by poverty and need help to get out of poverty just like everyone else. “Some 20.8% of all U.S. children were poor”(Lewit). The amount of Children in poverty is on the rise and it has been proven that poverty can have short term and long term effects on a child. As a result of children growing up in poverty, children having increasing rates of depression and behavior issues. Depression can be caused by growing up in poverty, growing up in poverty increases the risk of a child being depressed. Children realize that they are poor from a young age and are constantly comparing themselves to other kids. According to Emily Badger of the Washington Post, children have higher rates of depression when they grow up around families with more money than them. Children that grow up in neighborhoods where all of the …show more content…
Children that grow up in poverty have increased rates of depression because they are not properly taught how to understand emotions at a young age. When kids grow up in poverty they also have more behavior issues because they act out when they grow up around wealthier families. Children also have trouble thriving in school when they are raised in poverty. The percentage of children in poverty is on the rise and is already higher than the number of adult in poverty (Lewit). With the number of children in poverty rising everyday, something needs to be done to help all of these poor