Child Poverty Affects Children

Imagine a life where you are not safe living. You do not have the resources you need to survive or to take care of yourself. If you get sick and do not have the medication to treat it, the outcome could be deadly. Millions of children go through this every single day. Not knowing what will happen. If they will get food, have a place to stay, or if they will get sick. A day in the life of a child in poverty effects them in various ways all over the nation; and there are ways that you can help.

Child poverty effects the children in both physical and emotional ways. Stress, for example, impacts the children’s lives in various ways. They could get stress from physical or emotional abuse, chronic hunger or neglect, abuse, mental illness, exposure to violence, family poverty, and more (Children’s Defense Fund). Too much stress on a person can negatively affect them in their
Protection is very important for a child if they want to be more self-reliant when they are older (Children International). A lot of the time these children do not have a proper place to stay because they either cannot afford it or just simply do not have somewhere to go. Some have to live on just as much as $1.25 per day (Compassion International). Therefore, these children and families do not get the protection, nutrition, or even medicine they need to live a healthy life. When they do not get enough food to eat or enough nutrition, it increases the chances of them getting various illnesses. Even the environment around them – contaminated soil and water – exposes them to parasites, diseases, and other serious health problems (Children International). Some of these illnesses could be very serious and life threatening. According to Compassion International, the average life expectancy is at a very young age: “In developing countries (where 92 percent of children live) 7 in 100 will not survive beyond age