THE EFFECTS POVERTY HAS ON EDUCATION 1

The Effect Poverty Has on Education and One’s Future

Alejandra Miranda

Salt Lake Community College

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Education plays a huge role in one’s life. Whether you are learning in a room
setting or outside the common classroom you are gaining knowledge. We are
constantly learning new things. In America, public education comes almost at no cost
to us. It is easy for parents to enroll their children in school and meet their goals. But
what happens to the kids who aren’t so lucky to have such an easy access to
education? There are many obstacles that someone might face that can get in the way
of getting an education. The main one being poverty. Although public education is
free there are other things that come into play for a child to become a successful
student. Studies have shown that children living in low-income households have
behavioral problems and don’t learn at the same rate as a child living in a household
where money isn’t an issue. They can have a harder time being more social and just
simply enjoying their childhood because they have other things they’re constantly
worrying about even from such a young age as preschool.
There is poverty all over the world in some countries it is much worse than
what we see back home but even so there are parts of the US that have tons of poor
neighborhoods. Although public education is very achievable across America the
problems low-income family face is usually back when they are home.
The affects that poverty has on children can lead to lifelong problems which
they might not be able to recover from (Child Fund). Some kids who live in poverty
might not even finish school completely. They have other things to worry about,
which shouldn’t be the case but they feel the responsibility to help their parents and
bring something to the table. They want to go out and get a job and help with as little
as they can even if it means putting their dreams on hold. When children are raised in
a really low-income household their main concern is surviving they don’t care about
school, some might but at that point all they want is to have a roof over their head and
food on the table. Dropping out of school at such a young age created obstacles for
kids later in life. By not finishing this school this means kids are left without a proper
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education meaning they don’t learn how to read or spell, they aren’t able to do simply
mathematical problems, and they aren’t able to gain the knowledge that a student
acquires by going to school and graduating high school. In Educating the Other
America, there was a study done that shows that children who are poor have a smaller
word capacity and cannot develop conversation-eliciting questions making it difficult
for them to learn new words and know the different meaning between two words
(Parrett & Budge 2016). Aside from not gaining the basic knowledge by dropping out
this prevents them from going on and achieve greater education like college. They
aren’t able to continue with their education and meet their goals whether it’s to
become a doctor, a teacher, or even a lawyer. Without a proper education, this enables
them to continue living in poverty even as adults. This will have effect on future
generations. These children will not be able to give their future children the gift of
education because just like them their kids will most likely go through the same
struggles. It seems like a never-ending cycle, which in most cases it is, until someone
comes along and understands the importance of education and breaks this cycle and
can learn from past mistakes and make their future better.
Like stated before, public education is free but that is not where education
stops. Aside from going to school children need the funds to pay for uniforms, books,
transportations, and even meals. There are certain things that public education can’t
cover and this is where the problems begin. This is where parents as well as kids start
to worry about their future and their education. Although there are sometimes many
government or community agencies that help kids living in poverty not always will
someone be approved for them. There are some public schools that have public
transportations for kids but in developing countries where education is not so common
and not so easy obtained children sometimes have to travel hours just to go to school.
Parents sometimes cannot afford to have their kids traveling back and forth each day
so it is easier for them to just imply not go. In countries that are being governed by
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one individual rather than the people taxes don’t always go back to benefit the
community meaning there are less schools making it harder for children to attend. If
students are able to attend these school usually have low quality material or just
simply not enough. They are almost always over crowded meaning students don’t
often get one on one time with their instructor and even when they do get time with
their instructors aren’t fully equipped to be teaching the material because they aren’t
that knowledgeable about it either.
Poverty can also have an effect on a child’s health and well-being. Some kids
don’t always know where their next meal is coming from. At times the only food they
will eat is the one that is provided to them by the school during class time but once
they are out of school and go home they might not get to eat again until the next day.
They go to bed hungry and wake up hungry the next day. Not getting the right nutrient
and vitamins can affect someone’s body and lead to more serious health issues
implementing them from learning. When a child gets sick due to the lack of food they
are not getting they aren’t able to concentrate in class or even attend at times. Low
income families rarely have healthcare therefore they are not able to go to the doctor’s
office and get help or medicine to cure these illnesses. Most of the time families rely
on at home remedies or medicine over the counter that you can find at your local store
and it isn’t always the best or fastest way for a child to start feeling better. Aside from
feeling sick most of the times under these conditions you aren’t able to get a good
night’s rest which will also have a negative effect on children in school because aside
from feeling sick and hungry they are also going to feel sleepy. All of these combined
it will be very hard for children to pay attention and learn in their classroom. Growing
up in poverty can have a traumatic effect on children once they are grown up into
adults. They look at the world differently and have different values and beliefs. Some
kids live in such horrible conditions that they can develop mental illnesses. As adults,
they are less sociable and are more afraid to take on responsibilities and build
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relationships. There were several studies from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study
Birth Cohort that shows that for every additional $1000 of average income throughout
a child’s youth would increase about .015 stand deviation in reading and math scores
for children living in low income households. They also found out that the more
education a child acquires the better their scores are. Meaning the earlier a child drops
out of school the lower their math and reading scores will be (Isaacs & Magnuson
2011). Children who do poorly in school because of their socioeconomic status
will remain in the low-income section as adults as well.
When someone grows up in poverty there are other factors that they might be
exposed to compared to someone living in a well-off household. Children in poverty
grow up in low-income communities where the crime rate is higher. They are
exposed to drugs and gangs and often times get involved in these things and their life
goes downhill from here on out. There are many studies that have been conducted in
the past that show that most people who are incarcerated have had a rough upbringing.
Whether it means that they were abused as children or they were in a loving
household but were living in poverty and had to turn to crime to survive. The Family
Investment Model shows that family financial struggles affect children negatively and
effect their emotional and relationship functioning, their parenting practices, effects
the parents in ways that they are not able to meet their child’s emotional needs
because they often have to focus their time on working a second job to provide for
them (Kaiser 2017). Recent studies conducted by the UK Millennium Cohort found
that poverty was associated with peer and conduct problems. When parents are
working multiple jobs to provide for their children they are often times left alone and
for no one to care for them while their parents are away. This situation leads kids to
get involved with the wrong crows. Children often want to fit in and have someone to
support them and that is when they turn to gangs. They think gangs are their family
and they feel like they belong to something. They get involved in crimes they have to
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rob people and places as well as hurt others just so they can be accepted into the gang
and once they are accepted their crimes are much dangerous and have much longer
prison times if they were to be caught. Living in poverty opens a load of problems for
children. Things that they shouldn’t have to worry about for such a young age. With
their parents, often at work and not getting the attention they need it can also lead to
depression for the children enabling them to not be able to concentrate in school and
fall behind with their work.
Many people might argue that it is someone’s choice whether they attend
school of they don’t but that is not the case. For countries where children drop out of
school to work to them that is normal. That is the only thing they’ve known. They see
that their parents didn’t attend school and the only means of survival is by working.
Therefore, to them school is not of much importance like it is in other parts of the
world. In some parts of the country parents marry off their daughters at a really young
age so they are no longer their responsibility and they don’t have to worry about
working more to be able to care for a lot of kids (Sawhill 2003). While in other
countries parents see their kids as investments. The more kids they have the more
people in the household that are able to work and bring in money so they can live
comfortably. Although this isn’t right we can’t judge them based on these actions
because we are not able to relate to their stories or their problems that they face.
In conclusion, this shows all the negative effects of poverty and all the risks
children pose when being raised in a low-income household. Living in poverty not
only affects their education but can have long-lasting problems. Children living in
poverty lack the basic requirements to attend school and often times never complete
school.
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Works Cited

Isaacs, Julia B., and Katherine A. Magnuson. “Income and Education as Predictors of Children's
School Readiness.” Brookings, Brookings, 29 July 2016,
www.brookings.edu/research/income-and-education-as-predictors-of-childrens-school-
readiness/.

Kaiser, Till, et al. “Poverty and Child Behavioral Problems: The Mediating Role of Parenting
and Parental Well-Being.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
Health, MDPI, 30 Aug. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5615518/.

Parrett, William, and Kathleen Budge. “How Does Poverty Influence Learning?” Edutopia,
2016, www.edutopia.org/blog/how-does-poverty-influence-learning-william-parrett-
kathleen-budge.

“Poverty and Education.” ChildFund, www.childfund.org/poverty-and-education/.

Sawhill, Isabel V. “The Behavioral Aspects of Poverty.” Brookings, Brookings, 28 July 2016,
www.brookings.edu/articles/the-behavioral-aspects-of-poverty/.