Poverty and Childhood Identity Formation

For this blog post I have chosen to discuss poverty and its impact on childhood.  I grew up in a small town where there were many blue-collar families and farm families. My father worked for the Corps of Engineers and have had a well-paying, steady job.  Poverty was something that didn’t impact me, however it did impact one of my friends. When I think back to my childhood, one particular friend comes to mind when I think of poverty.  This friend was Bridget Fletcher.  She came from a large blue-collar family.  Bridget’s mother stayed home and took care of the children while her father worked.  Both Bridget and her mother were very kind, however for I remember being afraid of her father.  I am not sure if I was afraid of him because I did not know him or if when he was there he yelled a lot.  I just remember being afraid.  Bridget never came to school with any bruises and never went for days without food, however, her family lived in an old run-down house and she always had on old hand me downs. Although our area was blue collar, Bridget’s family was the closest I came to seeing poverty.  Most kids I knew had better clothes and better homes so they looked down on Bridget because she dressed differently and came from a run-down home. What I witnessed was the emotional impact of poverty on Bridget’s self-esteem. I think back now and wonder was she so shy because she was an outcast due to her family’s financial status or was she just shy and did not get the same opportunities as others did for her personality and self-esteem to blossom?

I have long since lost track of Bridget, but I do know that she married an abusive man. I do not think she is married to this man anymore, but had she not experienced poverty and low self-esteem would she have made better choices as an adult and have had a more successful adult life. 

For the last few blog posts I have concentrated on England’s health programs and their role in making sure its children get a great start as infants and toddlers. Now I am going to concentrate on those children who may not get such a great start in England due to their financial circumstances. In 2016-2017 there were 4.1 million children living in poverty in the UK.  That equals 30% or 9/30 children in a classroom.  London is the area with the highest rates of child poverty. Even when unemployed parents gain employment that does not guarantee them a way out of poverty.  Typically, families in poverty have at least one working parent.  

Families in England experience poverty for many reasons.  Unemployment is not always the reason families experience poverty because as I mentioned before, many impoverished families in England have at least 1 working parent.  Families living in poverty simply may not have enough money to cover their living expenses or have too many children for the amount of money they bring in. Families in England may become impoverished because of a rise in living costs, a drop in wages or changes in benefits. They simply do not have enough money to cope with the circumstances in which they are living. 

Children growing up in poverty in England often live in cold homes, frequently are hungry and cannot do many of the activities their non-impoverished friends do.  They cannot even afford to take their families on vacation.  School age children who receive free school meals have lower score in achievement tests. Impoverished children often do not live as long as their more affluent friends once they reach adult hood.  Children living in poverty may experience the following risks:  death in the first year of life, low birth weight, be bottle fed versus breast fed, breathe secondhand smoke or pollution, become overweight, suffer from asthma, have tooth decay, poor school performance and accidental death. 

I would think children in England who experience this type of poverty possibly would experience stunted academic growth due to malnutrition and low self-esteem due to the stigma of being low income and academically disadvantaged.  Children in low income families do not have access to the extra-curricular activities that promote self-esteem through team work and relationship building.  Children would also probably be outcast due to differences in looks and health.  Perhaps they look different because they are heavy, have older clothes, and perhaps even have bad teeth because of no access to dental care.  Poverty definitely puts children at a disadvantage from the very beginning of life. 

Retrieved from:  http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

Wickham S, Anwar E, Barr B, et alPoverty and child health in the UK: using evidence for action Archives of Disease in Childhood 2016;101:759-766.