For centuries, many people in the US or abroad have dealt with and were forced to live the lives of poverty. These people face many social, physical, and mental challenges that impact themselves, their families, and societies. Many measures have been taken to attack and thus limit the spread of poverty, but no matter what actions are taken, there will always be less fortunate people. Despite their need for food, shelter, and clothing, poverty-stricken people also have an education that suffers or becomes non-existent.

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 What is Poverty? Poverty is the condition where a person’s basic needs, like food, shelter, or clothing, are not being met. There are two types of poverty: Absolute Poverty and Relative Poverty. Absolute Poverty occurs when people cannot obtain the resources to support a minimum level of nutrition or health; usually meaning that more calories are being burned than replenished in the body. This kind of poverty is the same everywhere. Relative Poverty is more comparative. This occurs when a person does not enjoy the certain minimum level of living standards they uphold. It varies from household to household to country to country.

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Why do so many people live below the poverty line? It is easy for most people to blame poverty on the people in it. Many say that “they got themselves that why”, but in most cases, this is not true. Poverty in the United States can be traced back to The Great Depression. The stock market crash of 1929 led to a decrease in consumer confidence during a large economic decline. Although actual statistics related to poverty were not measured at the time, social scientists suggest that a large percentage of the U.S. population became poor during The Great Depression.  The lack of money to buy food leads to malnourishment which made people become weaker and sicker. This sickness caused them not to be able to work, which made them poorer and hungrier. Passing this lack of money down from ancestors to ancestors, explains some of the poverty today.

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What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘poverty’? When I think of the word poverty, I, like many others, picture a child starving in another country. As scary as that picture is, poverty not only exist in other countries but may be right next-door. According to one of my resources, “In 2014, 47 million people lived in poverty in the USA. That means the poverty rate for 2014 was 15%.”

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 After my research on poverty, I realized just how this can be affecting our school children. Parent involvement and basic needs can be restrictions on student success.  Lack of parental ability to help with school work is one of the reasons that students depended so much on teachers to go the extra mile to help them with their school work and keep them engaged. Family instability or hardships impacted many students lives; these are things like: stable housing, transportation, financial stability, etc. When worrying about “What am I going to eat today?”, it can be hard to focus on any school work.

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We cannot deny that poverty is a huge problem in the United States and all over the world, but it becomes an even bigger problem when it affects the education of our future leaders. Many children in every country suffer through poverty every day, and there is no doubt it damages their ability to learn or go on to any high-paying job. Knowing this is power, though. Hopefully, in time and with hard work, we will be able to change or at least lessen the rates of poverty throughout the world.

           

"Causes of Poverty." - Global Issues. Anup Shah, 28 Dec. 2014. Web. 26 June 2016.

 

 

"Hunger and World Poverty." Poverty.com -. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2016.

 

"Poverty Facts | Poverty Rate, Poverty Thresholds & Census Information." Poverty USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2016.

 

"11 Facts About Education and Poverty in America." DoSomething.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2016.

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