Problems Faced By Children Of The Working Poor

The working poor of our nation are the people who work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. They live on a week to week basis, and often lack full-time employment opportunities.

More than half of the current families that qualify as the “working poor” have parents who were also children of a low-income household. There is a common cycle of poverty gripping the people of our nation, and it is time we become more educated on the situation.

Take a few minutes of your day to read this short synopsis, explaining just a few of the challenges faced by children of the working poor.

Troubles at home — Domestic abuse

There is a myriad of issues that run in tandem with a lack of financial stability. Children living in low-income homes often have a very chaotic existence, especially because they become spectators of domestic violence at a young age. Domestic violence is typically not a rarity, and children are forced to come face to face with adult issues far too soon in life. This is a saddening reality of some relationships that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

Wondering What is Domestic Abuse? Domestic abuse refers to a pattern of controlling and coercive behaviors — physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual — used by one person to gain power and maintain control over another individual in a close relationship or domestic setting. Domestic abuse can occur between family members or spouses in a domestic relationship, regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation.

When children witness physical abuse being inflicted upon one of their parents, it puts additional strain is put on them. The children tend to feel like they can never truly relax, and this lack of sleep can cause terrible issues in school.

Lack of preparation

Children of low-income families often have little to no supervision regarding their school work. Homework commonly does not get finished, and students are left unprepared to handle their studies.

Of course, this is not the standard for all low-income families. There are plenty of parents who should be rewarded with a gold medal for the excellent parenting they provide their children. It is important to understand that some people do better than others under continuous stress.

Poor nutritional provisions

It is not unusual for children of working class parents to struggle nutritionally. Fresh fruits and vegetables take prep time, and working class parents do not have much free time to cook dinner every night.

Sometimes children go to bed hungry. Without proper nutritional provisions, kids will struggle to maintain proper attention in class. They may also be sluggish and exhibit challenging behavioral patterns.

Moving from place to place

The life of a low-income child is almost always extremely unstable. Due to financial strains, working class families tend to move around quite a bit more than those who are blessed to have more financial freedom.

When a kid is moved from school to school, over and over again, they almost always fall behind in their education. Moving takes time away from the children’s education.

There is no money for enrichment

In addition to the essentials of life, poor families have trouble providing any kind of extracurricular enrichment activities. It is not cheap to have three kids playing sports.