Poverty is a cycle that often begins before birth due to poor access to antenatal care and prenatal nutrition. Lack of quality education and job prospects perpetuate the cycle, affecting entire communities. Economic intervention programs have had limited success, and opponents attribute it to the culture of poverty.
Often children born into poverty grow up to live out their adult lives in poverty as well. Lack of proper nutrition, poor healthcare, absence of quality education and limited job prospects are all factors in the cycle of poverty. Because these children tend to be geographically clustered in areas of financial depression, this lack of services and opportunities often affects entire communities.
For many children, the cycle of poverty begins even before birth. Poor access to antenatal care leads to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality. In poor areas, poor prenatal nutrition and untreated maternal medical problems lead to smaller, less developed babies. The chances of physical and intellectual birth defects are also higher.
Unfortunately, babies who didn’t have proper nutrition and medical care in utero rarely do better after birth. Lacking access to nutritious foods, these children are further behind in growth and brain development. Without vaccinations and regular medical care, these children, already weakened by malnutrition, can fall victim to a variety of contagious diseases. The children who survive are further weakened by these experiences.
The cycle of poverty is perpetuated when developmentally delayed children enter schools that are woefully inadequate. In general, poor communities have poorly funded education systems. Without the money to hire enough quality teachers, these schools are often unable to provide even a basic education. The textbooks and computer equipment needed to prepare students for college may simply be unattainable.
Higher education may not be realistic for children caught in the cycle of poverty. Without the skills developed by children in wealthier areas, these children rarely leave the areas where they grew up. Over time, the cycle repeats itself until the community as a whole is educated. The lack of skilled workers makes the new industry in the area unattractive for business. No new jobs are created and therefore no funding is available for community improvement.
In theory, the cycle of poverty could be broken at any stage of its development. In practice, however, economic intervention programs have had limited success. The introduction of nutrition education and maternal health programs in economically deprived areas, for example, has reduced maternal and infant mortality. These programs have also improved childhood health. Unfortunately, this improvement in health has had almost negligible impact on whether these children will remain impoverished as adults.
Many opponents of welfare programs attribute the failure of interventions to the culture of poverty. This phrase was first coined by anthropologist Oscar Lewis in the 1950s. Lewis believed that poverty was a highly developed subculture, complete with its own norms and ethics. As such, he believed that children raised in cultures were psychologically incapable of imagining a different existence.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
