Poverty

Poverty and Children in the United States University of Phoenix Tishia McCall SOC 120 Kimberlin Born December 20, 2009 The United States has been affected by several social problems in today’s society. A social problem that I have decided to perform my research on is Poverty and Children in the United States. There are several reasons why Poverty has affected children in the United States. A few reasons why poverty is a current social problem is: Low income families, younger parents, less education and the increase in single and divorced families. Low income has been a major factor with families that have children. The economy has had many hardships. Families with children have suffered the most from the economic crisis. The economic crisis has resulted in families loosing their jobs or families accepting jobs with pay cuts. Families that have lost their job suffer a great deal. These families have been accustomed to a certain lifestyle. The lifestyle that one is use to has to change, so that the necessities of life are fulfilled. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, families that are suffering through poverty are not classified as poor families. Families that suffer through poverty maybe affected by issues such as: missed mortgage payment, late utility bills, or utility products shut off, late car payments, no medical benefits, unstable child care or a shortage in food supply. Statistics have also proven, it is more common for families with younger children to suffer poverty than families with older children. Forty seven percent of families that have children under the age of six suffer from poverty, whereas thirty seven percent of families that have children over the age of six suffer from poverty. Another major factor of low income are immigrant parents. Immigrant parents suffer a great deal with trying to find employment. Trying to locate employment can be hard for immigrants; to the point immigrant families will accept odd jobs here and there to make ends meet. Poverty is also occurring with parents that have started a family at a young age. I also believe that teenage pregnancy plays a major factor in poverty, based on the age factor of reproduction. In today’s society teenage pregnancy is becoming more common. Teenage pregnancies also result in low income. The fact that teenagers typically do not have the requirements to maintain a job results in poverty. In today’s society, teenage pregnancy is more common in urban areas. Teenagers have adapted to the urban lifestyle and the poverty that has revolved around them. As a result, teenagers adapt to the lifestyle and this continues to be an on going cycle of reproduction and poverty. Another result of poverty with teenagers is health issues. Teenagers do not have the proper medical attention due to poverty, and may continue to live an unhealthy lifestyle. These unhealthy choices in one lifestyle maybe: unhealthy eating, drinking, smoking, and lack of prenatal care. All of these unhealthy choices stem from being affect by poverty. These health issues that can occur during pregnancy can cause serious long-term effect to a fetus, which can continue financial hardships to young parents. Teenagers in these urban areas have adapted to this way of living. I believe that if more school education that consist of sex education, birth control or abstinence should definitely be provided. I believe this cycle could be decreased if these step are taking and the proper knowledge is provided to these teenagers at an early age. I believe that this could also be a step to decreasing the poverty numbers if this counseling is provided as well. Education also plays an important role in the increase in poverty as well as the teenage pregnancy that I have recently addressed. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, eighty three percent of families that live in a household with families that have less than a high school diploma struggle with poverty. The numbers for poverty are approximately the same with families that have also obtained a high school diploma. However, families that have seen somewhat of an increase are families that have obtained a college degree. The result in low income also results from education. I believe that if education were encouraged, one that is suffering from poverty would have other opportunities available with the necessary job requirements. With the necessary degree, families would be obtaining a better job. With further education, this could be a solution for eliminating poverty. Families would be able to obtain job where they would be able to afford healthcare benefits. Families would also be able to save money with many products such as 401 k plans, brokerage accounts, stocks, CD accounts, Money Market accounts, Money Manager accounts and Savings accounts. Single parents and families that have experienced divorces are also affected tremendously. Families have become comfortable with having two incomes with families that have experienced divorce. Therefore, when a divorce occurs some parents must sacrifice with only one income if the families are not receiving additional income in a household. Single families can consists of: families that have experienced a divorce, families that have experienced a death of a parent, families and many other categorizations. All of these single families can have economic hardship due to only one parent attempting to make ends meet for an entire family. Although poverty is a major factor and children are attempting to work at a young age, I believe that other alternative should be taken to prevent poverty. Mainly, I believe that if education is provided for children at a younger this would pave the way for children to understand, that success will occur only with enhancing your academic knowledge. I also believe that if schooling is provided to teach children about birth control and sexual protection this is also a factor that will prevent births until families are financially stable. Reference NCCP, 2009. Ten important questions about Child Poverty and Family Economic Hardship http://www.nccp.org/faq.html#question1 V. Joseph Hotz. 1999. Teenage Childbearing and Its Life Cycle Consequences: Exploiting a Natural Experiment http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/jcpr/workingpapers/wpfiles/HOTZ_WPoriginal2-7-2000.pdf