Why Do Children Grow Up In Poverty?

What are the effects of growing up in poverty? This is a loaded question filled with possibilities, and what ifs. The effects of growing up in poverty are said to be far reaching. Researchers argue that growing up poverty can contribute to lower cognitive functioning, lower nutrition levels, and how their emotions function overall. (Brown, L. & Pollitt, E., pp 38-43) Essentially growing up in poverty can cause high levels of stress, poor education, increased risk of teen pregnancy, and poor overall health. Part of the reason that growing up in poverty has such far reaching effects on children is because the side effects of it follow them throughout their entire lives. Children who grow up in poverty don’t receive the same level of education as other children “Aside from physical and mental health, poverty in childhood and adolescence is associated with a higher risk for poorer cognitive and academic outcomes, lower school attendance, lower reading and math test scores, increased distractibility, and higher rates of grade failure and early high school dropout.” (Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R.F . (2002).), and less
“Chronic psychosocial stress is gaining recognition as a major mechanism through which poverty exerts a negative toll on children and adults. Ongoing stress associated with poverty, or the stress of living with less than one needs, creates constant wear and tear on the body, dysregulating and damaging the body’s physiological stress response system and reducing cognitive and psychological resources for battling adversity and stress” (Almeida, D.M., Neupert, S.D., & Serido, J. pp 34-39) Where other children could focus on other less crucial things. This underlying worry tends to push these children to greater lengths, and overall a worse mental