Children born under the curse of poverty suffer from a lack of nutritious food, water, shelter, health care, education, and sanitation. They develop fewer job skills and have lower income as adults. The curse of poverty follows their families generation after generation. Governments can solve child poverty permanently by breaking the cycle of poverty. Education and healthcare can enable the children to free themselves from this cycle.
Written by: Jeffrey Ram, Toronto, Canada, December 1, 2020
The World Children's Day was celebrated on November 20, 2020. On this occasion, various organizations raised awareness about child poverty and the lack of care and support the children receive in healthcare, nutrition, education, clean drinking water, sanitation, housing, and other areas. According to a World Bank Group-UNICEF analysis released on October 20, 2020, 356 million children, or 1 in 6 children, lived in extreme poverty before Covid-19. Two-thirds of these impoverished children were in sub-Saharan Africa, and nearly a fifth of these lived in South Asian households. Six hundred sixty-three million children, that is, one in three children lived in poverty.
CAUSES, EFFECTS, AND SOLUTIONS OF CHILD POVERTY
Many factors increase the risk of poor children growing up as low-income adults and raising children in poverty. With the necessary help from their governments, children can overcome these obstacles.
1. Cause: Parents' lack of education, unemployment, or low wage jobs.
Parents work on full-time jobs with part-time incomes. Illiteracy and lack of skills are the major causes of poverty.
Effects: Those who work hardest have the least. They desperately struggle for food and shelter. Low income creates parents' mental health, relationship, and financial problems. Children's mother and children are unable to receive nutritional food and other necessities of life. Children born into poverty are more likely to experience a wide range of health problems.
Solutions: Governments should provide financial and employment assistance. Governments should also deliver all children quality educational opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills to have a decent income as adults.
2. Cause: Lack of quality healthcare. The disease creates poverty and poverty disease. It is a closed circle.
Effects: Parents' ill-health affects their ability to work, which affects their income. Mothers and children fail to get the required necessary medicines, treatment, and help.
Solutions: Governments should provide children and parents proper healthcare and ensure that children are healthy and well-nourished.
3. Cause: Broken or single-parent families. When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out of the window.
Effects: Family's income is reduced. Also, it is hard for a single parent to raise a family.
Solutions: Financial help by governments can decrease financial stress. Also, governments should ensure proper daycare facilities to enable single parents to work.
4. Cause: Family size.
Effects: A large number of children force the family to share scarce food and other resources. Inadequate nourishing food negatively impacts the family members' health, and especially the mother's health.
Solutions: The government health and community service agencies should educate parents about family planning and small families' benefits.
5. Cause: Lack of government policies to end poverty and help low-income families.
Effects: This results in a lack of nutritious food, safe drinking water, adequate housing, sanitation, and other services. Approximately 40 percent of the world population still lacks a primary handwashing facility with soap and water at home – and in the least developed countries, this rises to nearly three quarters. Parents and children become sick and have related health problems.
Solutions: Governments should ensure that all children and their families have access to nutritious food, safe drinking water, proper housing, sanitation, and hygiene.
Government help may include cash transfers and support for food and nutrition.
CONCLUSION
Children born under the curse of poverty suffer from a lack of nutritious food, water, shelter, health care, education, and sanitation. They develop fewer job skills and have lower income as adults. The curse of poverty follows their families generation after generation. Governments can solve child poverty permanently by breaking the cycle of poverty. Education and healthcare can enable the children to free themselves from this cycle.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta declared, "The poor are our brothers and sisters-people in the world who need love, who need care, who have to be wanted." King Solomon assured, "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done." Let us use our knowledge and skills, including social media skills, to advocate with governments and leaders to make children the top priority in our governments' budget allocations. Government help can enable all children to have opportunities to prosper and achieve their full potential and ensure that no child is left behind.
Blessing: May God Bless You, Your Family and Friends, and Make You A Blessing to Others.
(Reform Advocate/ World blog is published on the Tuesday of the first week every month)
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