Child poverty is a state of economic inequality where children lack access to resources such as food, shelter, healthcare, and education. Poverty can lead to health issues and poor academic performance, and street children are at risk of exploitation and crime. Poverty can also lead to social costs as poor children become less educated and productive adults or turn to a life of crime.
Child poverty is a state of economic inequality in which some children grow up with limited or even no access to the resources they need to become healthy and productive adults, including adequate food, shelter, health care, and education. These children may be members of poor working families or may be orphans sometimes left to their own devices in regions with little government support for them. The cycle of poverty generally follows these children throughout their lives, and they often have a high chance of becoming poor adults as well.
The poverty line is a benchmark for measuring levels of income disparity, and it can vary from one geographic region to another. Children living in families whose annual income is below the equivalent of $20,000 United States Dollars (USD) are generally defined as living in child poverty in many countries. They often have parents who can only earn minimum wage due to limited education, creating financial strains that can sometimes significantly disrupt family life. These children also tend to underperform in school, score lower on standardized tests, and drop out of high school at higher rates.
Lack of access to health care is an additional concern related to child poverty. Poor children are generally more likely to contract one of the common diseases of poverty, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or malaria. Many of these illnesses can be traced to inadequate building ventilation, poor sanitation, and inadequate nutrition. Young people growing up in poverty are often not covered by any health insurance, so they also cannot receive regular preventative care, such as immunizations.
Street children present some of the most serious cases of child poverty. Many of them find themselves alone after the death or abandonment of their parents. They typically lack any kind of support system and often turn to criminal activities to survive. Many children living on the streets in some areas may lack birth certificates as they were born outside of hospitals, making them eligible for whatever social services their local region may provide. Street children are disproportionately at risk of becoming victims of exploitation or violent crime.
Child poverty can lead to significant social costs as poor children grow into adulthood. Some prove to be less educated and less productive workers than their counterparts who did not grow up poor. Others may turn to a life of crime and thus increase the taxpayer’s costs of the justice system.
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