Dixon 1

Allison Dixon

Mrs. Maciulewicz

ENG 1101 Bell 5

14 December 2020

Child Poverty: Effects on Future Relationships

Child poverty is a reality that is all too familiar in today’s society. Thousands of children

across the United States are considered to be living under the poverty line. Being a child of

poverty affects many aspects of the child’s life, including their health, education and future

employment. But does being a child born into such dilapidated places, cause a detrimental

impact on the outcomes of family and friend relationships? As the years progress for the child,

they form aggressive behaviors towards family and friends, they don’t have the same experiences

as most children, develop feelings of hopelessness and other mental illnesses.

These children’s relationships with their peers have been reported to be positive at a

young age. Although, these same children have been reported on the high end of the spectrum for

being bullied. As the bullying and poverty increases as the child ages, the relationships between

the children and their peers become more troublesome. Compared to other children, “Those

children in poverty are more likely to fall out with their friends, fight or bully others, and play

alone” (Gibb). These children could be bullied for their clothing, smell, hair or not having the “in

trend” items. With this information, these children however, are said to be as content and happy

with their lives as those who have higher income (Feuchtwang). This shows that these children

are not totally defined by the income of their family but that there are other factors that play into

these emotions of low income children.

 Dixon 2

Not only do these children have issues amongst their peers but the family relationships

deal with a detrimental impact. As expected, the rate of sibling bullying was high. This is not

surprising however as children fight with siblings often. As research shows, “Compared to other

children, children in poverty are less likely to talk about their problems at home” (Gibb). This

comes from the fact that most of them feel as if they don't have a strong support system backing

them. Growing up feeling alone can cause a feeling of hopelessness when faced with issues

bigger than them at that young of an age. Without having a supportive family, this causes the

children to develop bad coping skills such as aggressiveness. The bond between a child and their

mother is considered to be one of the most important relationships for a growing and developing

child. Sadly, “These children are less likely to talk to their mothers about anything they care

about, more likely to fight with their mothers and less likely to be close to their mothers at all”

(Gibb). The nurturing that a mother can bring to a child growing up is irreplaceable. However,

these children also state that they are happier with their families compared to those that have

higher income. Most parents in poverty have difficulty coping with the stress barrier of poverty

and don't seek a way to get over it. Their behaviors lead their children to feelings of neglect and

hopelessness. Often, the children feel the stress that their parents are feeling, which could seem

overwhelming to most children. This stress could come from not knowing where their next meal

could come from or from persistent fighting from parents over bills and money. All of these

issues are far too well-known for a child in these houses.

When looking deeper into what can increase the happiness of a child in poverty, it shows

that the more activities the child is involved in can positively affect them. When a child is

involved in summer programs, after-school activities, and programs they have structure and learn

how to form relationships with the other children and the adults leading them. These children
 Dixon 3

teach themself how to manage time and they can even learn things about themselves and their

emotions. There are skills that come from after school activities including the, “important role

for teaching and other school-based activities which help to develop socio-emotional and

relationship skills” (Feuchtwang). This is an affective component in a child’s life, yet this is

difficult for parents of low income to make happen. With a lack of promising transportation and

very little to no extra spending money, it makes it difficult for these children to get into extra

curriculars.

There are a lot of problems that come along with poverty. One of the problems that seem

to have a major impact on the young lives of children living in low income is the problem of

moving. With low income families the parents take work wherever is available. This results in

the child having to transfer schools often. When moving houses and towns, this causes the child

to not have enough time to form a bond with those in their school and community. Some ways

that could help these children get out of this cycle is, “Policies that allow children to stay in the

same school when a move takes them across school boundary lines could help children and the

communities they live in when they complete school and enter the workforce” (Ratcliffe). This

would allow the children to form connections with those classmates they have gotten to know

and strengthen their learning by staying with the same lesson plans throughout their years at their

school rather than starting over each time.

Poverty is a trauma. Therefore, when experiencing any type of trauma, a child will have

repercussions that they will most likely have to deal with for the rest of their life. Evans and his

team found, “The adults who were children of poverty had a more difficult time performing

emotional regulation tasks” (Chang). When asked to do these tasks, they seemed to struggle

more with deciphering their positive vs negative emotions. This is somewhat related to the
 Dixon 4

amount of stressors they grew up dealing with. With this stress, it has caused damage to the

development of their brain. This damage is reversible yet, it is very difficult to figure out how to

cope. Trauma affects everyone differently but most children have the same lasting problems

including: strong emotions, physical reactions, helplessness and fear. These are just some of the

many issues that last long into the adult years of these past children of poverty. Some of the

repercussions that result due to poverty, is that they struggle with reaching adult milestones.

They miss out on more things such as “graduating from high school and enrolling in and

completing college, than children who are never poor” (Ratcliffe). This can affect the outcome of

their whole life. Those without high school degrees struggle with finding a job as an adult,

therefore throwing them into the never ending cycle of poverty.

Out of 10 people, 1 of them will have lived in persistent poverty at some point in their

childhood. The effects of childhood poverty lasts long into the adult years. Many will struggle

with employment and even have issues that result in them dropping out of high school. As a

child drops out of high school, this can lead them into a bad cycle of events. After dropping out

of high school, “teen childbearing is persistently higher for those in poverty than those with

higher income” (Ratcliffe). This definitely changes the lifestyle of these teenagers lives, way into

adulthood. Not only are these high school dropouts barely paying for themselves, but they have

to now pay for their newborn child.

The effects of poverty are truly devastating and have an impact on almost every aspect of

the children's lives. From family issues, friend problems, and bullying to how their adult life

plays out, is all somehow a result of their trauma as a child. Poverty seems to have a negative

impact on the lives of those involved, yet somehow the children involved are ranked as one of
 Dixon 5

the happiest groups of kids. Although poverty is detrimental to those involved, most still find a

way to brighten up their life.

 Dixon 6

Works Cited

Chang, Aiden. “Damaging Effects of Poverty on Children.” Cornell, 2015,

https://research.cornell.edu/news-features/damaging-effects-poverty-children

Feuchtwang, Alex. “The Links Between Poverty and Relationships.” The Voice for Secondary

Education, April 2016,

https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/blog/the-links-between-poverty-and-relationships/

Gibb, Jen. et al. “Poverty and Children’s Personal and Social Relationships.” National Children’s

Bureau, March 2016,

https://www.ncb.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/Research_reports/poverty_a

nd_children_s_personal_and_social_relationships_-_final_report_-_march_2016.pdf

Ratcliffe, Caroline. “Child Poverty and Adult Success.” Urban Institute, September 2015,

https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/65766/2000369-Child-Poverty-and-

Adult-Success.pdf