Chapter 2

Review Related Literature

In this chapter the researcher will review the ideas and findings from the previous

research related to research topic. It includes the existing information and studies about the

affects of poverty in the life of students.

Foreign

Lack of Resources and Education in Poverty Level

Education is the basis for poverty eradication and economic growth. It significantly

reduces the level of poverty, where as the role of higher education seems more significant tool

for alleviating poverty(Lui et al., 2021). According to Oakes (2021), there are schools that have

higher poverty levels of the student population compared to others. These high poverty schools

need immediate attention because the students who attend these schools lack access to resources,

equal education opportunities, and the schools mainly contain a high percentage of students of

color. The children from communities that have high levels of poverty are likely to be exposed to

conditions that affect their learning. Johnson (2019) stated that most children from poor

households live in environments with poor sanitation, lack resources, and some of their parents

have low academic expectations for their children.

The fight against the poverty has featured high on the political agenda in recent years.

One of the five headline targets of this strategy concerns poverty and social exclusion. Thus,

education is acknowledged as the fundamental tool to prevent and to lift people out of poverty.

Found out that increase in labour force participation and full time employment, and to a lesser
extent increased personal income might be potential mechanism. More than 1 in 7 people in

Europe live in household whose income is below the national poverty line, but more than 30% of

people consider themselves to live in poverty(Hofmarcher, 2021). Students living in poverty

often have fewer resources at home to complete homework, study, or engage in activities that

helps equip them for success during the school day. Many improvised family lack access to

computers, high speed internet and other materials that can aid a student outside of

school(NASSP-National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2022)According to

Thomas (10) that children from lower income households scores significantly lower on measure

of vocabulary and communication skills, knowledge of numbers, copying and symbol use, ability

to concentrate and cooperative play with other children from higher income households.

According to Chueng and Wong (2020), a family’s income greatly impacts the development of

children. Parents with a high level of income may invest in their children by buying them

educational learning materials, providing proper nutrition, paying for services like tutoring,

having access to medical care, exposing their children to stimulating environments, and engaging

in extracurricular activities. Most children from low-income households have limited or no

access to these resources. These economic hardships experienced by low-income families can

induce stress in parents, and they often end up having a poor psychological well-being. This can

also reduce the parents’ interaction and engagement with their children. A positive parent-child

interaction is crucial for child development (Chueng & Wong, 2020).

Poverty Hits the Mental Health of Students

The environment shapes an individual’s mental health. Most people are born,they grow,

work and age in the same environment and so their mental health is shaped by the social,

environmental and economic conditions of the environment they are in. Mental health problems
may emerge early in children because of poverty and deprivation of basic needs (Knifton &

Inglis, 2020). According to Blackstock et al. (2018), mental health affects all people: men,

women and children. Children living in poverty also tend to experience more stigma and

discrimination compared to those from a better economic status. As a result, the children may

find it harder to recover from mental health issues and the impact is likely to be felt by the entire

family (Knifton & Inglis, 2020). There is a big gap between children living in urban settings and

those living in rural areas. Children living in rural communities are more likely to be affected by

poverty and face challenges associated with poverty like limited resources and mental health

stigma. These challenges hinder their access to mental health concerns. Studies show that

poverty has an effect on mental health. The main mechanism through which poverty affects

mental health is physical and biological (Simon, 2018). The most toxic environment for mental

well being is one in which poverty is geographically concentrated, often in urban areas. People

living in poverty may display social disorders if their mental health has been affected by poverty

(Simon, 2018). Murali and Oyebode (2004) echoed Simon’s findings by stating that most

psychiatric conditions occur at high rates in areas that are affected by poverty but lack of money

does not necessarily lead to mental health. Children living in poverty also tend to experience

more stigma and discrimination compared to those from a better economic status. As a result, the

children may find it harder to recover from mental health issues and the impact is likely to be felt

by the entire family (Knifton & Inglis, 2020). According to Chueng and Wong (2020), a family’s

income greatly impacts the development of children. Parents with a high level of income may

invest in their children by buying them educational learning materials, providing proper

nutrition, paying for services like tutoring, having access to medical care, exposing their children

to stimulating environments, and engaging in extracurricular activities. Most children from low-
income households have limited or no access to these resources. These economic hardships

experienced by low-income families can induce stress in parents, and they often end up having a

poor psychological well-being. This can also reduce the parents’ interaction and engagement

with their children. A positive parent-child interaction is crucial for child development (Chueng

& Wong, 2020).

Students in poverty have a greater impact on mental health compare to others.

According to Blackstock (2018), school aged children’s mental health care is affected by several

barriers. These barriers include the struggle to pay for mental health care services, the stigma

associated with mental health, lack of infrastructure, and difficulty in identifying mental health

concerns. The barrier which has raised more concern is stigma because it impacts on the

preventive measures for mental health care. This impact is largely felt in small neighbourhoods

with a close knit nature and people know each other and talk about each other. Creating

awareness of potential mental health care issues is very crucial because this issue requires

attention. Parents and school staff need training to recognize that a mental health concern exists.

Lack of awareness means that no one will seek help (Blackstock, 2018). According to

Johnson(2019),a lot of children living in poverty come from a home environment that is

demanding. Their parents are either absent most of the time and when they are present they may

have a lot of negativity-some may have many partners, use drugs, and may engage in both

physical and verbal abuse. Johnson (2019) stated that most children from poor households live in

environments with poor sanitation, lack resources, and some of their parents have low academic

expectations for their children (Johnson, 2019).Moreover, According to Oakes (2021), there are

schools that have higher poverty levels of the student population compared to others. These high

poverty schools need immediate attention because the students who attend these schools lack
access to resources, equal education opportunities, and the schools mainly contain a high

percentage of students of color. The children from communities that have high levels of poverty

are likely to be exposed to conditions that affect their learning. According to Mowat (2020),

children from poor families are more likely to be bullied compared to their peers from more

affluent homes. Bullying impacts students’ mental well being leading to an increase in suicidal

thoughts. Children who have faced bullying may find it harbeing keep jobs as adults and some

may end up being unemployed. As a result, they are likely to have a lower income, limited

resources, and have low social status in the community they live in (Johnson, 2019). Schools

should ensure that students feel secure, safe and valued when in school and have preventive and

awareness programs that address bullying issues (Mowat, 2020).Parents should know how to

handle and control situation in the mist of poverty, children expect that their parents is the only

one who can advise and helps them understand to face the struggles and problems that they

have. A full support from them is very important as it can boost confident, decrease anxiety and

make their children understand about the situation they have.

Poverty in the Midst of Covid-19

Covid-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the health and economic status of most

households, especially households in deep poverty (Cookson, 2020). Deep poverty rates affect

the daily lives of families and public policy. Cookson (2020) identifies a gap in addressing the

depth of family poverty and provision of subsidized services for these families. These families

struggle with needs like food, housing, insecurity, bills, healthcare and access to the internet for

students. With covid-19 , learning has moved to online and most of the students from households
in poverty are unable to access the internet (Cookson, 2020). ,In December 2019, an outbreak of

a novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, occurred in China and has spread rapidly across the

globe within a few months. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new strain of

coronavirus that attacks the respiratory system (World Health Organization, 2020). As of January

2021, COVID-19 has infected 94 million people and has caused 2 million deaths in 191 countries

and territories (John Hopkins University, 2021). This pandemic has created a massive disruption

of the educational systems, affecting over 1.5 billion students. It has forced the government to

cancel national examinations and the schools to temporarily close, cease face-to-face instruction,

and strictly observe physical distancing. These events have sparked the digital transformation of

higher education and challenged its ability to respond promptly and effectively. Schools adopted

relevant technologies, prepared learning and staff resources, set systems and infrastructure,

established new teaching protocols, and adjusted their curricula. However, the transition was

smooth for some schools but rough for others, particularly those from developing countries with

limited infrastructure (Pham & Nguyen, 2020; Simbulan, 2020).

Inevitably, schools and other learning spaces were forced to migrate to full online

learning as the world continues the battle to control the vicious spread of the virus. Online

learning refers to a learning environment that uses the Internet and other technological devices

and tools for synchronous and asynchronous instructional delivery and management of academic

programs (Usher & Barak, 2020; Huang, 2019). Synchronous online learning involves real-time

interactions between the teacher and the students, while asynchronous online learning occurs

without a strict schedule for different students (Singh & Thurman, 2019). Within the context of

the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning has taken the status of interim remote teaching that

serves as a response to an exigency. However, the migration to a new learning space has faced
several major concerns relating to policy, pedagogy, logistics, socioeconomic factors,

technology, and psychosocial factors (Donitsa-Schmidt & Ramot, 2020; Khalil et al., 2020;

Varea & González-Calvo, 2020). With reference to policies, government education agencies and

schools scrambled to create fool-proof policies on governance structure, teacher management,

and student management. Teachers, who were used to conventional teaching delivery, were also

obliged to embrace technology despite their lack of technological literacy. To address this

problem, online learning webinars and peer support systems were launched. On the part of the

students, dropout rates increased due to economic, psychological, and academic reasons.

Academically, although it is virtually possible for students to learn anything online, learning may

perhaps be less than optimal, especially in courses that require face-to-face contact and direct

interactions (Franchi, 2020).

Locale

Effect of Poverty on Academic Performances

Aside from well-being education is also affected by poverty in the Philippines,.

According to the Department of Education and the National Statistical Coordination board in the

Philippines, 1in 6 Filipinos will not attend school ;and 7 out of 10 Filipinos can attend and finish

High school with those missing out being part of poverty. With children unable to attend school,

it leaves them unable to know the basic knowledge(Mendoza,2021). The Department of

Education has been suffering from “Learning Poverty “as the World Bank stated that 90% of

Filipino kids aging 10 years old could not read. However, even before pandemic, the total

percentage of children suffering from learning poverty is already at 69.5%.With the children
lacking basic knowledge and education, it would greatly affect their opportunities in the future as

they transition to young adults, which would greatly influence the economic status of the

country. Furthermore, education is also a basic factor for economic development that serves as a

bridge, between the society, economy and better opportunities for employment (Fradigalan &

Gutierrez, 2022). According to Cabuenas, (2020),the average wage in the Philippines is amongst

the lowest in the world, averaging at only 15,200 per month, which is not enough for basic

needs, especially with education. Due to parents lack of work, instead of children striving for

better education they are often sent out to work on the streets. According to the International

Labour Organization, there are 2.1 million child laborers aged 5 to 17,with 95% of them in a

hazardous workplace. As of 2018 a quarter of 105 million Philippines population lived in

poverty that is over 26 million people. Most Philippine parents that are unable to meet up with

the financial needs of their children often send them out to work on streets or factories. In

general poverty makes us think of failure education, which means that children born into poverty

are born in a vicious circle of poverty of which they cannot escape. The state in Mariras, Sibulan

Toril, Davao City who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material

possessions in poverty is said to exist most people in this place are lack to satisfy their basic

needs. Education occupies a central space in human rights and is esssential and indispensable for

exercise of all other human rights and for development(Aseo, 2020).Article 26 of the United

Nations Convention of Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that “Everyone has the

right to education”. Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child,

(UNCRC), sets out the right to education to which every child is entitled. Article 29 of the

convention also, attaches importance to the process by which the right to education is

promoted(United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, n.d).As a number of students
raised in poverty increases, it is vitally important that educators must be aware and help to close

the gap in academic achievement between those who raised in poverty and those who raised in

more affluent home(McKenzie, 2019).