Essay on "Poverty Among Children"

Essay 3 pages (1117 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

And hence, when a family's income is very low, there is a direct impact on children; the child of a poor family is known to suffer from "…malnutrition, a poor quality of education, and lack of health care" (Ranjith, 123).

The United States and the United Kingdom are among the three "worst-performing rich nations" in the world when it comes to the number of children in those countries living in poverty, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Institute for Research on Poverty) (Smeeding, et al., 2010). That having been said, it is worth mentioning that while the U.S. government (i.e., Congress and the Executive Branch) have been zeroing in on "…cutting welfare rolls," in the United Kingdom an "ambitious, national-government-led antipoverty initiative" has cut the numbers of children living in poverty (Smeeding, 1).

Sociological Theory of Poverty

The "Culture of Poverty" theory -- authored by Oscar Lewis -- holds that poverty is persistent because it is produced by the culture of poverty. This is one of the earliest theories based on sociological and socioeconomic factors, and it was developed by Lewis based on his work with poor families in the rural areas of Latin America (Magnuson, 2009). The basic assumption in this theory is that poor people develop certain unique patterns in their lifestyles, and they develop values and priorities based on the unique characteristics in that particular culture or subculture of low income communities (Andy, 2011).

Magnuson argues that the culture of poverty theory means poor individuals respond to their "marginalized position by adapting their behavior and values" (33). Along with responding to the fact that they are living in destitution, the poverty-stricken people in this theory have feelings of "helplessness and inferiority," and as they adapt their lowly lives to survival values, those values and lifestyles are "…transmitted to future generations," which explains why the culture of poverty continues.

In conclusion, it is shameful that so many American children live in families that are poor, and that as a result of being in a poverty situation children are not given the good nutrition and good education that they need and deserve. Recently in passing the Farm Bill, the House of Representatives voted to cut food stamps by $800 million (Jalonick, 2014). At a time when more children are living in poverty than there were in 2007, cutting the lifeline to food sources that poor families rely on is also is shameful.

Works Cited

Andy, E. (2011). Critical Analysis of Poverty Theories. Academia. Retrieved January 29, 2014,

From http://www.academia.edu.

Hunger in America. (2013). Hunger & Poverty Statistics. Retrieved January 29, 2014, from http://www.feedingamerica.org.

Jalonick, M.C. (2014). Farm bill deal cuts food stamps by 1%, continues farm subsidies.

Star Tribune. Retrieved January 29, 2014, from http://www.startribune.com.

Leopold, L. (2013). America's Greatest Shame: Child Poverty Rises and Food Stamps Cut

While Billionaires Boom. Huffington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com.

Magnuson, K., and Votruba-Drzal, E. (2009). Enduring influences of childhood poverty.

Focus, 26(2). 32-35.

Ranjith, S., and Rupasingha, A. (2012). Social and Cultural Determinants of Child Poverty in The United States. Journal of Economic Issues, XLV1(1), 119-135.

Rau, J. (2014) HHS Releases Poverty Guidelines for 2014. Kaiser Health News. Retrieved January 29, 2014, from… READ MORE

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