Effects of Poverty | Impact on Children & Society

Poverty is a condition of lack of money and resources.

There are many causes of poverty.

In the past, since the resources were limited and there was no technology, poverty was widespread.

But fortunately, after the industrial revolution, there is a great change.

It is quite easy to get rid of poverty through education, hard work, and intelligence in the current century.

This current century saw the rise in the internet as one of the new means of business and livelihood.

Though it is a virtual aspect, still these are companies worth billions. Yet, many countries are suffering from poverty due to varied reasons. Here are the possible effects of poverty.

Effects of poverty on children

Poverty, in general, affects living standards, health, education, children, and society as a whole. But it is sensible to discuss them as effects on children and society.

1. Chances of Mal-nutrition

Due to poverty, there is a lack of proper parenting. The parents can’t afford a healthy diet for their children. Hence in countries with poverty, we can notice children with malnutrition and related diseases.

Since the child grows very fast, he needs good nutrition. Due to a lack of proper nutrition, the children do not grow up with a healthy body and mind. They tend to remain unfit for sports, education, and other activities. This can lead to a shorter lifespan too.

2. Life-threatening diseases.

Many diseases can be prevented by vaccination during childhood. These vaccines are quite expensive and those in poverty may not be able to afford them. Hence, people in poverty tend to suffer from diseases. Even if they are sick, they do not seek medical help as they cannot afford the medical expenses.

3. Illiteracy & Lack of education.

Children in families with poverty are discouraged from education. Instead, parents encourage them to take up small wage work or jobs to keep up the expenses. Hence, these children can be deprived of proper education.

Governments are taking steps to ban child labor due to this issue of illiteracy. But, the actual problem lies in their poverty.

4. Orphanage

Many parents take a divorce due to poverty. Hence the children may become orphans as neither of the parents wishes to care for them.

Being in orphanage homes cannot teach children the aspects of family love, care, etc.

Also, parents will like to prefer a single child or no child at all as they cannot afford them.

5. Pessimistic mind etc.

Wealth is a type of strength and can act as a morale booster. You can also notice when you have no money; you tend to be anxious and less stable. But, when you have money, your morale boosts up and you tend to be confident. Hence we can say that children who suffer poverty are more pessimistic and may have a negative attitude towards life.

Effects of poverty in society

A Society with widespread poverty will face serious problems. These problems can affect everyone living in that society in some or other way.

1. Corruption

Poverty encourages corruption. People try to make money in all the illegal means to be rich. In doing so, those in power or official jobs will engage in corruption.

2. Increase in Criminal activities

Poverty affected societies have a high amount of violence and criminal activities. Due to a lack of education and other means of livelihood, they tend to go for criminal activities. There can be theft, robbery, murders, etc. All these criminal activities are the direct effects of poverty.

3. Lack of happiness

In a society, happiness is directly linked to wealth. Having money provides comfort and makes you dress well and live well. So we can expect that people from those societies with poverty will be less happy. Having money provides comforts and makes you dress well and live well.

4. Lack of education

Education and research require sufficient grants from the government. In countries with poverty, we can notice that they are lagging in education and research. You can also notice that top grade universities are in wealthy countries. So being in poverty, the nation cannot provide good education to its students. Also, students cannot get to wealthy countries for education as they cannot afford it.

5. Weak families

Many families break up due to poverty. Poverty encourages quarrels among family members leading to a decrease in family relationships.

6. Unethical behavior

Poverty leads to a decrease in ethics in society. People tend to make money by unlawful means. This is sometimes even harmful to society. People may engage in cheating, flesh trade, smuggling, etc.

Effects of poverty on health

7. Malnutrition

A nutritious diet is essential for the health of an individual. Due to poverty, the purchasing power of the family is limited. Due to this, they rely on unhealthy and non-nutritious food.

Unhealthy and contaminated food can leads to many sorts of infections, cancers and other debilitating diseases.

Non-nutritious food weakens the immune system, general weakness, stunted growth, weak physique, defective births, mental retardation and hindered child development.

So, poverty can lead to long-term health problems both for the individual and his family.

8. Lack of Pure drinking water

Many countries and states cannot provide pure and healthy drinking water to their citizens. This requires huge amounts of capital to build dams, water piping, filtration stations, etc.

Impure or contaminated water is the primary cause of diseases worldwide. So, poor countries cannot provide healthy drinking water leading to the ill health of their citizens.

9. Illness and lack of health facilities

Health facilities in a country depending on wealth. Citizens in rich countries are provided with emergency ambulance services, hospitals, internet-based health support, etc.

Whereas those in poor countries do not have access to these facilities.

Further, due to the lack of food, clean water, improper homes develop diseases.

Effects of poverty on families

Families and relationships within the families are not bound by wealth alone but the love of each other. However, some of the family members who are more concerned with wealth tend to cause disturbances in the family structure.

If one of the children is eager for more wealth he would take away his share from his parents and leave in search of more wealth.

Poverty can lead to the breakdown of joint families into nuclear families. It can cause ego problems and a rift between each other and also a married couple.