The impact of poverty on young children is significant and long lasting. Poverty is associated with substandard housing, hunger, homelessness, inadequate childcare, unsafe neighborhoods, and under-resourced schools. In addition, low-income children are at greater risk than higher-income children for a range of cognitive, emotional, and health-related problems, including detrimental effects on executive functioning, below average academic achievement, poor social emotional functioning, developmental delays, behavioral problems, asthma, inadequate nutrition, low birth weight, and higher rates of pneumonia.
Psychological research also shows that living in poverty is associated with differences in structural and functional brain development in children and adolescents in areas related to cognitive processes that are critical for learning, communication, and academic achievement, including social emotional processing, memory, language, and executive functioning.
Living Poor With Style.pdf
Children and families living in poverty often attend under-resourced, overcrowded schools that lack educational opportunities, books, supplies, and appropriate technology due to local funding policies. In addition, families living below the poverty line often live in school districts without adequate equal learning experiences for both gifted and special needs students with learning differences and where high school dropout rates are high.
Further, research shows that students reporting homelessness have higher rates of victimization (PDF, 10MB), including increased odds of being sexually and physically victimized, and bullied. Student homelessness correlates with other problems, even when controlling for other risks. They experienced significantly greater odds of suicidality, substance abuse, alcohol abuse, risky sexual behavior, and poor grades in school.
I have about a half dozen other stories like this. What is remarkable is not that this happened. There is empirical evidence that women and people of color are judged by appearances differently and more harshly than are white men. What is remarkable is that these gatekeepers told me the story. They wanted me to know how I had properly signaled that I was not a typical black or a typical woman, two identities that in combination are almost always conflated with being poor.
This has NOTHING to do with being presentable or classy or respectable or high status amongst upper middle class people. This is about gaining status amongst EACH OTHER. The upper middle class person respects a cheap necktie much more than a $100 t-shirt with Nike sneakers. But the poor respect the un-classy but expensive bling-bling more.
Now, living in a rich country, with classy people I miss that power trip. When classy people signal status with a Rolex watch that is kind of meek. It does not have that pure, aggressive, in your face, threatening, my-penis-is-bigger-than-yours feeling than when poor people signal status to each other with a gold chain. I miss that feeling, that power trip.
Urbanization has long been associated with human development and progress, but recent studies have shown that urban settings can also lead to significant inequalities and health problems. This paper is concerned with the adverse impact of urbanization on both developed and developing nations and both wealthy and poor populations within those nations, addressing issues associated with public health problems in urban areas. The discussion in this paper will be of interest to policy makers. The paper advocates policies that improve the socio-economic conditions of the urban poor and promote their better health. Further, this discussion encourages wealthy people and nations to become better informed about the challenges that may arise when urbanization occurs in their regions without the required social supports and infrastructure.
In addition to human-to-human transmission, animals and insects serve as efficient vectors for diseases within urban settings and do not discriminate between the rich and poor. The prevalence and impact of communicable diseases in urban settings, such as tuberculosis (TB), malaria, cholera, dengue, and others, is well established and of global concern.
After all, philosophers and sociologists often agree that man is but a social animal. So, living without a society or a group you belong to can have a huge impact on your mental health (though we wouldn't know for hermits). This has massive consequences for policymakers concerned not just about poverty but also about reinforcing social cohesion.
The trend toward more single-parent families has only made things worse and women have become more and more vulnerable to their environment. They find themselves forced to feed the poverty cycle by living in poverty with their children.
If there is any common association of poverty with bad environment, it's probably because of those pictures of children running around in waste dumps. In fact there is no link between any of the consequences of global poverty and the environment, quite the opposite. Those toxic places prove very harmful to the poor, who actually tend to reuse, recycle or resell whatever they can find in there, thus getting us rid of that dangerous garbage.
Those living in poverty are more likely to have a diet that increases the risk for CKD: lower in magnesium, calcium, fiber and potassium and higher in cholesterol. In the US, the urban poor are the most at risk for CKD based on their dietary intake.37
The socioeconomic environment also interacts with the built environment, so that lower-income neighborhoods and homes are more likely to experience high rates of lead paint exposures, noise, air pollution, mold growth and extremes of heat and cold, while also less likely to have access to nature, safe areas for walking, affordable fresh food, and parks and playgrounds for physical exercise. All of these can lead to poorer health outcomes, as described on the Built Environment page.
In my viewpoint, it is very important for everyone to recognize that poverty and environmental issues are interrelated. Poverty among people puts stress on the environment whereas environmental problems cause severe suffering to the poor. People, whether they be rich or poor, consume water, food, and natural resources in order to remain alive. All economic activities are directly, indirectly or remotely based on natural resources and any pressure on natural resources can cause environmental stress. Environmental damage can prevent people, especially the poor, from having good and hygienic living standards. As poor people rely more directly on the environment than the rich for their survival, they are mostly on the receiving end of environmental problems
On the other hand environmental problems add more to the miseries of poor people. Environmental problems cause more suffering among them as environmental damage increases the impact of floods and other environmental catastrophes. Soil erosion, land degradation and deforestation lead to a decline in food production along with a shortage of wood for fuel contribute to inflation. In short, the worst consequences of environmental deterioration, whether they be economical, social, or related to mental or physical wellbeing, are experienced by poor people.
More rigorous efforts should be undertaken by the governments of all countries to eradicate poverty and in turn, to save deprived people from the dreadful implications of environmental damage. There should be more collaborative partnerships among all sections of the society so that even the people living in poverty are linked to the world through their participation in social, political, and economical spheres along with their active participation in environmental regeneration. 2ff7e9595c
Comments