Poverty
Name
Institution
Poverty
Poverty has been understood to be a multifaceted concept because it includes all aspects of the environment that comprise of the economic, social and political components. The term poverty can be defined as the lack of enough money to meet the basic needs. Poverty has been identified as the scarcity of food, clothing and shelter because of the lack of money and possessions. Most third world countries in the world have higher poverty rates, and this has been a significant hindrance towards creating and developing a sustainable future. Most communities that are poverty-stricken fail to meet their needs, and they are at risk of facing various social problems that they cannot manage to address. Poverty-prone nations have tried their best to address this issue of poverty by using different approaches and strategies, but some have failed because poverty is deprivation in well-being. And it has been identified as a complex issue that needs to be addressed by all means to avoid further challenges.
Adverse effects of poverty on human well-being
Debt increases the level of stress in the poverty-stricken families. Family members become frazzled because they do not have the sufficient finances to support their families. They lack food to eat, clothes to wear, and may lack a favourable house to live in. This stress spurs mixed reactions amongst family members, and they may engage in violence because of their financial uncertainty. Studies indicate that job loss and poverty are interconnected hence are associated with the disorder in clans (Fair et al., 2016). Children are abused because there is no money to feed them, pay their school fees and there are no funds to buy them new clothes to wear. This increases the level of stress especially in parents who find it difficult to make ends meet. Research shows that most men end up starting fights with their wives because they find it difficult to provide for their families.
Poverty has been associated with the prevalence of illnesses within the society. An unfortunate member of a community does not have the ability to seek medical attention because he or she cannot afford better healthcare. As a result, diseases are universal in their community, and they spread very fast. This has resulted in the death of many because the people lack the money to access healthcare services. The available services are too expensive for them to afford. Therefore, this indicates that poverty affects societal well-being and it paves the way for the prevalence of diseases in the sick society (Gornick & Nell, 2017). Poverty also demoralizes the society because they lack the funds to address the emerging social problems. Therefore, community development and sustainability are affected, and nations fail to secure the future of the next generations.
Extreme poverty leads to homelessness, and this puts families at risk because it affects the proper growth and development of children. Homeless families fail to receive adequate nutrition, and their children are not immunized as required. This puts the lives of children at risk because most of them end up being malnourished and are prone to different diseases such as anaemia and kwashiorkor. Most of the third world countries have recorded high child mortality rates because children live in poor conditions that do not support their growth and development fully and in a hygienic manner.
Consequences of bringing up children in poor environments
Children brought up in needy families tend to miss school because their parents cannot afford to pay school fees or they are sick, and their guardians do not have the funds to seek medical attention. There is little or nothing these children can do to help their families. As a result, they are prone to child labour and domestic violence. Growing up in such an environment does not support growth and development. They are more likely to learn poor health behaviours and are at higher risk of having mental illnesses at some point in their life (Worku et al., 2017). Those that live in constant poverty have poor cognitive development because they are not able to participate in social and celebratory activities. This has a negative impact on their overall self-esteem because they are unable to build friendships since they feel inferior in the society. Most of them grow up to be very poor because there are no resources that can help in their cognitive and emotional development. Their failure to associate with others limits them to acquire social interaction skills that could be of help in their future (Levin, 2018). This indicates that children raised in needy families are affected psychologically and emotionally and have poor cognitive development.
Economic and political effects of poverty
Studies indicate that poverty has become a political and economic problem and this trend seems to be on the rise especially in developing countries. Poverty is linked to the increased risk of war where countries have failed to cope with the world economy. Nations attempt to find raw materials and new markets for their products by going to war with other states to help them improve their situation. Mass emigration of populations is connected to poverty because people migrate from poverty-prone areas to areas that can help them meet the basic needs (Musterd et al., 2016). Poverty also leads to increased terrorism as the poor communities seek to find new ways to sustain themselves amid lack of resources and funds.
On the other hand, poverty causes an economic breakdown of a region or community because people are too poor to afford water, shelter, food, as well as clothing. Furthermore, they are unhealthy, and people fail to get educated. This affects the economy of a nation and countries lag behind in terms of economic growth and development. The poor are forced to move to other regions in search for better living conditions, and this deprives the society the workforce to carry out various job opportunities. As the people relocate from rural areas to urban areas, they facilitate the growth of slums, increase crime-related activities, and put substantial pressure on the available social amenities (Musterd et al., 2016). This is problematic because governments incur a lot of costs to address the different social problems that emerge. These people also do not have the skills to aid in job searching. Hence, they form gangs that terrorize people in major cities and towns.
References
Fair, C. C., Littman, R., Malhotra, N., & Shapiro, J. N. (2016). Relative poverty, perceived violence, and support for militant politics: Evidence from pakistan. Political Science Research and Methods, 1-25.
Gornick, J. C., & Nell, E. (2017). Children, Poverty, and Public Policy: A Cross-National Perspective (No. 701). LIS Working Paper Series.
Levin, J. N. (2018). When the Basic Necessities of Life Are Missing: The Impact of Poverty on Children. In Assisting Young Children Caught in Disasters (pp. 93-101). Springer, Cham.
Musterd, S., Murie, A., & Kesteloot, C. (2016). NEIGHBOURHOODS OF POVERTY. Palgrave Macmillan.
Worku, B. N., Abessa, T. G., Vanvuchelen, M., Bruckers, L., Kolsteren, P., & Granitzer, M. (2017). Limited psychosocial stimulation and nutritional problems as associates of developmental performances of children in extreme poverty in Jimma, Ethiopia.
