Chapter 8: Poverty and Socioeconomic Class

Diverse children, with the exception of Asian children, consist of the majority of children in poverty and lowered academic success. Poverty is defined (in 2007) as a family of four who makes under $43,000 per year, and one person who makes under $20,650. I made that type of money working part time. The box 8.1 Child Poverty Nationwide by Race (2005) stated the following about the percentage of children that live in poverty: 35% of Black children live in poverty (20% in New Jersey and 43% in Ohio) 28% of Latino children live in poverty 29% of American Indian children live in poverty 11% of Asians live in poverty 10% of White children live in poverty 18% of all children are considered poor and can range between states from (7% in New Hampshire to 27% in Mississippi More children lived in poverty (18%) than 18-64 year olds who had 11% in poverty. People 65 and over had 10% living in poverty. 30.3% live below the poverty level for at least two months but just 5.3 percent of them stayed in poverty for over two years. The average amount for time spent in poverty was 4 and a half months. In 1997 parents who obtained a degree and had children under the age of six had only 3% of families below the poverty line. Programs that are available to these families include Head Start, food stamps, the school lunch program, the Low-Income Home Energy Asstance Program, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Mental resources are needed. Other noted groups include veterans (30%), crug or alcohol-dependant person (40%), and persons with mental dissabilities, (25-30%). Many of these pele belong to more than one subgroup and thus the percentages dont add up to 100%. Another point that I noted was that one in seven single-parent families are headed by a father. High levels of absenteeism and tardiness are common for homeless children. Physical issues include "inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, maternal depression, exposure to environmental toxins, trauma and abuse, and quality of daycare" (p.154) that all effect brain development. The statistic that a $10,000 increase to a family income increases high school graduation chances by 600%. The research on twins mentioned showed that intelligence had a lot less to do with genetics and more to do with environment. Schools with dental help have seen an improvement in school achievement. Our school started assisting wi dental health and I think that it is a great idea. The graphs showed in the PowerPoint were powerful and I wish I can show them to my students who are having children before they graduate high school.