Poverty is a chronic problem that affects billions of people world over; according to UN and various other organizations, nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 per day and what’s even more shocking is the recent statistic on poverty by UNICEF, where nearly 22000 children die as a result of poverty-induced living conditions. The issue has become endemic to the point that various governments have formed study groups to analyze the situation and see how it can be reversed. Poverty comes with its own bag of side effects, just take a look at a few listed below and you will soon see why poverty must be eliminated at the earliest.
Negative effects of poverty:
Lack of adequate nourishment: Poverty is a scourge, often those afflicted with this have little or no access to proper nourishment and moreover, lack of adequate drinking water as well. As a result, their health goes for a toss which is why this demographic is more at risk of acquiring sudden infections and are often found to be the cause of health outbreaks as well. As a result of lack of adequate nourishment, they often do not have the strength to combat even simple infections which accounts for the disproportionately high fatalities in this particular grouping.
Education: Very few among the poor finish high school and most do not even know how to read or write properly. Low literacy levels are one of the hallmarks of this particular demographic and despite several federal budgets earmarking funds for free education, little is done to provide poor children with basic amenities. Moreover, children from poor background are less likely to concentrate on their schooling, given their current circumstances. This accounts for the fact why most of these poor children drop out of school, after completing just a few years.
Mental illness: As a result of poverty, children born to poor parents lack adequate child development and are often abused at a very young age. This causes most of them to experience both physical and mental trauma which soon develops into full-fledged mental illness. They also have a low self-esteem and lack the adequate social graces and rarely are sociable. They are more withdrawn and rarely make friends. All of these can have a lifelong impact on their health, which is why it is important to provide these children with counseling at a young age so that they can be treated in time, for their conditions.
Crime: Poverty often feeds into crime; one of the main motivations for anyone to commit a crime is to escape their poor living conditions. These often result in violent crimes and sooner or later, the criminal ends up behind bars.
These are some of the associated negative effects of poverty; this is why this issue should be tackled on a war footing. Sadly, not much is being done at the moment and one can hope that all the member countries will get their act together to save the next generation.
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