Negative Effects Of Poverty Research Articles

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various strata of society, but it particularly impacts women and children deeply. Poverty encompasses not only income deficiency for women but also the lack of social participation, leading to social exclusion. However, the question of whether poverty should be considered primarily as a women's issue or examined from a broader perspective is a subject of debate, as women can be disproportionately affected due to a gender-biased perspective.
 Recent research indicates that in contemporary societies, women are more adversely affected by poverty compared to men. Gender inequality and income disparities often restrict women's access to education, limit employment opportunities, push them into low-paying jobs, or hinder their workforce participation due to domestic responsibilities. Studies conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) highlight the prevalence of global gender inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab Peninsula, and many South Asian countries. These studies also reveal that gender inequality is more pronounced in countries with low to medium levels of human development. Consequently, regions like the Arab Peninsula and South Asia exhibit extremely low rates of female workforce participation. Moreover, these regions often witness a significant lack of female representation in their parliaments.
 Among the fundamental causes of women's poverty are deficiencies in education and negative societal attitudes towards women. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to elevate women's educational levels and encourage their participation in the labor force. Studies have shown a correlation between increasing women's education levels and economic growth. Consequently, governments should review employment policies and social security mechanisms to enhance women's access to employment opportunities. Social assistance policies should be implemented with a rights-based approach and should encompass women. Addressing the excessive burden of household chores, gender-based discrimination, and patriarchal attitudes limiting women's career choices is of paramount importance. Transforming societal norms and dismantling gender biases are necessary for this purpose. The combat against female poverty necessitates the active engagement of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the realm of social policy implementations, social assistance programs, governmental initiatives related to gender-responsive budgeting, and the practices of financial institutions concerning microcredit.

Negative Effects of Poverty on the Academic Achievement among Children with Special Needs in the Philippines: A Meta-Synthesis

Abstract: This study presented a meta-synthesis on the negative effects of poverty on academic achievement among children with special needs in the Philippines. It utilized 15 of the initial 400 studies from 2013–2021 that screened using the Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Constant comparison and the use of Clark and Braune’s six-step thematic analysis revealed seven themes: developmental delays; chronic stress; poor educational performance and attainment; disruptive behavior and attention deficits; lower expectations of the society; less involvement of the parents in children’s special needs education; dropping out of school. The negative effects of poverty on academic achievement among children with special needs in the Philippines emerged as the meta-theme of the study. Studies revealed that poverty significantly impacts children with disabilities in terms of development, academic achievement, and school attendance. As a result, it recommended that an intervention program, such as positive behavior intervention, student monitoring/higher student engagement, and parenting services, be provided to mitigate the effects of poverty on the academic achievement of children with disabilities.

An assessment of poverty reduction policy: implication of the N-Power Programme in Nigeria

This study is on An Assessment of Poverty Alleviation Policy; Implication of the N-Power Programme Nigeria. The N-Power Programme is a social intervention programme that captures the youth between the ages of 18 to 35 years. The Federal Government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari knows the negative effect of poverty and thus decided through his N-Power Scheme to minimize or deal with poverty using the youth empowerment programme which is popularly known as the N-Power. This study adopted Social Contract Theory as bases for analysis and discussion. It relied on secondary method of data collection where textbooks, journals, papers, newspapers and the internet provided the source of information. There is no doubt that the N-Power has been able to cushion the effect of poverty among the youths because the N-Power Programme captured both graduate and non-graduate applicants, however, as good as the Programme in alleviating poverty, there are challenges associated with it and it is based on this challenges that the presenters by way of suggestions to deal with the challenges recommended that government should improve on the funding of N-Power to accommodate more Nigerians, because mere limiting the beneficiaries to youths of the age of 18 to 35 years is not good for social contract especially considering the fact that poverty has no age limit as it cut across etc.

An empirical study on correlation among poverty, inclusive finance, and CO2 emissions in China.

This paper explores the nonlinear relationship between poverty and CO2 emissions based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2019. In this study, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is first used. Findings confirm that poverty has a negative impact on CO2 emissions in the short run and a positive impact in the long run, while both effects of inclusive finance on CO2 emissions are negative. In order to explore the reasons for the change in the coefficient of poverty, we introduce a moderating effect (ME) model and a dynamic panel threshold (DPT) model. The result shows that the negative effect of poverty on CO2 emissions diminishes with the moderation of inclusive finance. When inclusive finance crosses the threshold value (IFI = 0.2696), the impact of poverty on CO2 emissions will change from negative to positive gradually, which verifies the applicability of the “Poverty-CO2 Paradox” in China and provides an empirical basis for breaking the “Poverty-CO2 Paradox.” Consequently, deepening poverty reduction and pushing the region’s inclusive finance to the threshold level are proposed as effective ways to promote CO2 emission reduction.

Does Poverty Matter for Tax Revenue Performance in Developing Countries?

This article explores the effect of poverty on tax revenue performance (tax revenue share), using an unbalanced panel data set of 102 developing countries over the period from 1996 to 2015. Based on the two-step system generalized methods of moments (GMM) approach, the empirical analysis shows that higher poverty rates significantly reduce tax revenue performance in developing countries. However, the magnitude of this negative effect is lower in least developed countries (LDCs) than in other countries of the sample. The analysis has also revealed that the tax revenue performance effect of poverty depends on the level of household consumption as well as the prevailing unemployment rate in the economy. Finally, development aid inflows help to mitigate the negative effect of poverty on tax revenue performance in developing countries. These findings not only highlight the importance of poverty for tax revenue performance in developing countries, but they additionally show that the provision of higher amounts of development aid to these countries could help them mitigate the adverse tax revenue effect of poverty, and even allow them to enjoy higher tax revenue performance, which is key for attaining their development objectives. JEL Classification: I30, I32, H20

Associations of family income with cognition and brain structure in USA children: prevention implications

Poverty, as assessed by several socioeconomic (SES) factors, has been linked to worse cognitive performance and reduced cortical brain volumes in children. However, the relative contributions of the various SES factors on brain development and the mediating effects between cognition and brain morphometry have not been investigated. Here we used cross-sectional data from the ABCD Study to evaluate associations among various SES and demographic factors, brain morphometrics, and cognition and their reproducibility in two independent subsamples of 3892 children. Among the SES factors, family income (FI) best explained individual differences in cognitive test scores (stronger for crystallized than for fluid cognition), cortical volume (CV), and thickness (CT). Other SES factors that showed significant associations with cognition and brain morphometrics included parental education and neighborhood deprivation, but when controlling for FI, their effect sizes were negligible and their regional brain patterns were not reproducible. Mediation analyses showed that cognitive scores, which we used as surrogate markers of the children’s level of cognitive stimulation, partially mediated the association of FI and CT, whereas the mediations of brain morphometrics on the association of FI and cognition were not significant. These results suggest that lack of supportive/educational stimulation in children from low-income families might drive the reduced CV and CT. Thus, strategies to enhance parental supportive stimulation and the quality of education for children in low-income families could help counteract the negative effects of poverty on children’s brain development.

Mechanisms that mitigate the effects of child poverty and improve children's cognitive and social–emotional development: A systematic review

AbstractThe negative effects of poverty on children's development have been examined in many studies. Poverty exerts its influence on children indirectly through mediating pathways, some of which have powerful effects in reducing the impact of early economic deprivation. However, the literature on the mediating mechanisms through which poverty operates and influences children's cognitive and social–emotional development is limited. This review provides a systematic analysis of published and unpublished studies that investigate mediating mechanisms that have been found to be effective in reducing the effects of early childhood poverty and in improving children's cognitive and social–emotional development. The findings of this review suggest that positive parenting and cognitively stimulating home environments have the potential to enhance the developmental outcomes of children living in poverty—in particular, educational materials including books and computers and home learning activities such as reading and counting are salient for the outcomes of children living in poverty. Findings on the effects of early childhood programmes for low‐income children's development and well‐being are also discussed.

Mechanisms connecting objective and subjective poverty to mental health: Serial mediation roles of negative life events and social support.

Mental health and poverty remain pressing global challenges yet, their relationship has been neglected by international development policies, even in high income societies. This study aims to investigate the relationship between objective/subjective poverty and mental health and its potential mechanism. A population-based data including 1,605 household heads extracted from the Hong Kong Panel Survey for Poverty Alleviation in 2015 were used. Multiple linear regression was conducted to examine the associations among poverty, negative life events, social support and mental health. Serial multiple mediation models were analyzed by the bootstrapping method to assess whether negative life events and social support mediate the relationship between objective/subjective poverty and mental health. Subjective and objective poverty were significantly associated with higher risks of negative life events, less social support and mental distress (p<0.001). Negative life events and social support in serial partially mediated the relationship between subjective poverty and mental health (total effect: Standardized β=0.41,Standardized SE=0.05, β=2.07, 95% CI [1.59, 2.55]; total direct effect: Standardized β=0.26, Standardized SE=0.04, β=1.34, 95% CI [0.86, 1.81]; total indirect effect: Standardized β=0.14, Standardized SE=0.04, β=0.73, 95% CI [0.51,0.97]). By contrast, even though the total direct effect of objective poverty on mental distress was not statistically significant (Standardized β=0.08, Standardized SE=0.05, β=0.41, 95% CI [-0.12, 0.94]), this relationship was also mediated by negative life events and social support (total effect: Standardized β=0.21, Standardized SE=0.06, β=1.08, 95% CI [0.52, 1.65]; total indirect effect: Standardized β=0.13, Standardized SE=0.02, β=0.67, 95% CI [0.43, 0.92]). Social support including informational, instrumental and financial could be effective buffers that confer resilience against the negative effects of poverty and adverse life events on mental health. In addition, reducing perceived poverty seemed to be more effective in improving mental health compared to the objective poverty alleviation, and further research are needed to confirm this conclusion.

Low-Income Parents’ Perceptions of and Engagement With a Digital Behavioral Training Program: Mixed Methods Study

Background Parent training is a method for strengthening parenting skill, reducing child behavior problems, and promoting positive parent-child relationships. However, few parents have access to these evidence-based programs. The ezParent program, a tablet-based delivery adaptation of the group-based Chicago Parent Program (CPP), is a parent training program designed to address the needs of families raising young children in urban poverty. There is extensive evidence that positive parenting practices can be a powerful buffer against the negative effects of poverty and adversity and is one of the strongest predictors of children’s social and behavioral well-being. Objective This study aimed to explore (1) parents’ perceptions of the benefits and barriers associated with their use of the ezParent program; and (2) the ways in which the ezParent components and perceived usability varied by program use (module completion). Methods This study uses an explanatory mixed-method design. Data were collected from 92 participants recruited from two pediatric primary care clinics (PPC) based in two urban cities with a high proportion of low income and minority families: Chicago, Illinois (cohort 1) and Baltimore, Maryland (cohort 2). Cohort 1 (n=42) was recruited between October 2013 and June 2014 as part of a randomized controlled tirla. Cohort 2 (n=50) was recruited between May 2017 and July 2017 as part of a single group design. The current report focuses on a subsample from cohorts 1 and 2 who were interviewed about their experiences using the program. To explore parents’ perceptions of ezParent (ie, perceived usefulness of content, ease of use, barriers to use, qualities affecting interest, and intention), all participants were invited to participate in an individual interview after the 12th week. Based on degree of module completion, we grouped parents into two user groups: high (completed 4-6 modules) and low (completed 0-3 modules). This cut-off was chosen based on previous data showing that parents who attended at least 50% of the CPP group sessions reported greater improvements in parenting self-efficacy, use of discipline, and warmth towards their children, as well as fewer child behavior problems. Results Fifty-nine parents participated in follow-up interview: 32 (54.24%) from cohort 1 and 27 (45.76%) from cohort 2. Among those interviewed, 23 (38.9.5%) parents completed all six modules and 12 parents (20.3%) completed none of the modules. Specifically, among those interviewed, parents completed an average of 3.73 (SD 2.39) modules compared to an average of 1.79 (SD 2.38) modules completed among those not interviewed. Parents who completed more modules reported more program benefits and those who completed fewer modules reported more barriers. Conclusions Exploring users’ experience with current digital applications, researchers and application developers can better design future tablet-based interventions to be both effective and acceptable by end users. Furthering our understanding of factors associated with engagement will inform more effective tailoring and improvements of mHealth interventions, particularly those targeting vulnerable populations.

Triple Threat: Preterm Birth, Poverty and Toxic Stress

Category/Date Emerging Knowledge for Clinical Practice Podium Presentations focusing on the Research Agenda Priority of Pediatric Research: Professional Role & Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Presented at NAPNAP's 40th National Conference on Pediatric Health Care, March 8, 2019, New Orleans, LA. Purpose The specific aim of this study was to apply the Eco-Bio Developmental Model of Poverty and Preterm Birth (EBDPPB) to cross-sectional data from 2016 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to elucidate the interaction between extrinsic factors of poverty and toxic stress and educational outcomes of children born preterm. Background Preterm birth, defined as birth before the completion of 37 weeks of gestation, is a multifactorial global epidemic with psychosocial, economic and physical ramifications affecting the child, family and larger community. Toxic stress, the result of exposure to adverse childhood experiences, results in changes to brain structure and function that negatively affects future health. Poverty is a multifaceted risk factor affecting child health and development, family resilience and access to resources. Problem Statement Children born preterm at all gestational ages are at risk for impaired educational outcomes. Toxic stress and poverty are additive risk factors for child health and educational success. It is hypothesized that in the presence of toxic stress and poverty, children born preterm will have increased risk, compared to children born at term, for chronic conditions may impair educational success as well as an increased risk of reporting special education services and grade repetition. Methods A subset of data representing children 6 to 11 years old (N = 15,010) from the 2016 NSCH was utilized for multivariate analysis of demographic variables, and neurodevelopmental and educational outcome variables. Toxic stress was defined as exposure to 1 or more adverse childhood experiences. Living in poverty was defined as household income less than 100% of the Federal Poverty Level. Pearson's Chi-square, logistic regression and interaction effects explored the relationships between prematurity, toxic stress and poverty. Villanova University of Institutional Review Board evaluated the research plan and determined that the study was not subject to federal regulations under HHS 45 CRF 46. Results Children in this sample born preterm had a higher incidence of toxic stress, poverty, developmental delay, learning disability, intellectual disability, speech/language disorders, ADD/ADHD, autism and special education/early intervention plans when compared to children born term. The combination of preterm birth and toxic stress significantly increased the risk of these conditions. After accounting for gender, insurance coverage, race and parental education, children in the sample born preterm remained more likely to experience developmental delay, intellectual disability, speech/language disorder, learning disability, and ADD/ADHD. Toxic stress increased the incidence of ADD/ADHD and autism in both the preterm and full-term samples. Discussion The negative effect of poverty and toxic stress on children born preterm as depicted by the EBDPPB is supported by this analysis. Health care providers are encouraged to address the tripartite vulnerability resulting from prematurity, poverty and toxic stress. Addressing this issue begins with recognizing that preterm birth is an ongoing risk factor to child health and neurodevelopment.

Poverty, Toxic Stress, and Education in Children Born Preterm.

Preterm birth, defined as birth before the completion of 37 weeks of gestation, is a multifactorial global epidemic with psychosocial, economic, and physical ramifications affecting the child, family, and community at large. Toxic stress-the results of exposure to adverse childhood experiences-results in changes to brain structure and function that negatively affects future health. The aim of this study was to apply the eco-bio-developmental (EBD) model of poverty and preterm birth to the cross-sectional data of the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health to evaluate the associations between poverty, toxic stress, and prematurity on neurodevelopmental and educational outcomes. A subset of data representing children ages 6-11 years old (n = 15,010) from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health was used for multivariate analysis of demographic variables and neurodevelopmental and educational outcome variables. Pearson's chi-square, logistic regression, and interaction effects explored the relationships between prematurity, toxic stress, and poverty. Children in this sample born preterm had a higher incidence of toxic stress, poverty, developmental delay, learning disability, intellectual disability, speech/language disorders, attention-deficit disorder (ADD)/attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and special education/early intervention plans. The combination of poverty, toxic stress, and preterm birth significantly increased the risk of these conditions. After accounting for gender, insurance coverage, race, and parental education, children in the sample born preterm were more likely to experience developmental delay, intellectual disability, speech/language disorder, learning disability, and ADD/ADHD. Toxic stress increased the incidence of ADD/ADHD and autism in both the preterm and full-term samples. The negative effect of poverty and toxic stress on children born preterm, as depicted by the eco-bio-developmental model, is supported by this analysis. Healthcare providers are encouraged to address the tripartite vulnerability resulting from prematurity, poverty, and toxic stress.

Poverty Does Make Us Sick.

This study evaluates the direct causal effects of household wealth on health. We discuss several specific mechanisms that that could relate poverty with worse health and hypothesize that poverty will undermine population health. This hypothesis was tested based on data drawn from a recent cross-country survey in 12 post-Soviet countries and Mongolia using classic regression (OLS) and instrumental variable 2SLS regressions. The results indicate that poverty does indeed lead to worsening health. This negative effect of poverty on health remains unchanged after controlling for a wide range of individual characteristics, healthcare performance indicators, trust in individuals, government, parliament, and political parties, as well as country-level unobserved characteristics. Using an instrumental variable increases our confidence in being able to isolate the effects of poverty on health status and confirms that our results are not due to endogeneity. In addition, the strong negative effect of poverty on health remains robust to the use of a set of country-level aggregated indicators (e.g. GDP and Gini) instead of country dummies, the employment of a subjective self-assessment indicator of poverty instead of an objective one, and an alternative conceptualization of health status as a binomial variable (for bad and very bad health) instead of a continuous one.

Child Poverty and Youth Unemployment in Palestine

Poverty has been defined as a set of risk factors that damage an individual's mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual development. However, the debate about the effects of poverty on the growth, development, and health of Palestinian youth and children specifically is as much involved with the culture and the economics of poverty as it is with the political context of poverty. This article examines the overall levels, trends, and negative effects of poverty among Palestinian children and youth, identifying the drivers of poverty since the Israeli occupation and its effects on the children and youth residing in the West Bank and Gaza. In addition, it demonstrates the strong links between the political and economic environment and poverty among family and children as well as individual well‐being in the West Bank and Gaza. By examining this important topic, it identifies the main reasons for poverty and clarifies the process by which the Israeli occupation and policies have transformed the Palestinian social and economic structures, thereby adding more constraints on the Palestinian people and government. The time period covered includes the expansion of Israeli occupation, the resultant economic and political hardship, and the rise of the Palestinian intifada as well as the current anti‐poverty programs in place.

A Developing Theology of Poverty and Health Applied to Nursing Education

Throughout history, the issue of poverty has been a problem in society. In this article, examination of Hebrew and Greek words related to poverty throughout the Bible revealed descriptions of the various types and causes of poverty. Historical research uncovered writings on poverty by several early Church Fathers and influential Christian scholars down through the ages, focusing mostly on the negative effects of poverty on life and society. In current literature, consensus exists regarding the negative effects of poverty on health. Nurses encounter these effects in the form of vulnerability and high risk for disease among their patients. Those who are poor have less access to care as well as limited resources for managing health and illness, often becoming invisible to healthcare providers and “falling through the cracks” of a flawed healthcare system. Even with the Affordable Care Act, illness as a direct result of poverty contributes to increased health risks and vulnerability. The development of a theology of the poor is discussed, along with the challenge that Christian nurses must promote social justice, address policies that promote disparities among vulnerable populations, mobilize resources, and serve as advocates for those with little or no voice—especially the vulnerable poor—in order to make a difference to their overall health and quality of life.

Developing Health Care Clinic Partnerships in Resource-Limited Regions

Establishing a successful health care clinic is challenging anywhere in the world. Dr Collins has drawn on her personal experience working in those parts of our planet where people are living with less than their fair share of its resources. Unfortunately, this comprises the majority of the world’s population. Not surprisingly, establishing medical care services in such places requires attention to the total fabric and environment of the intended population. Clearly, the interrelationship between successful health care delivery and education, sanitation, food availability, and the massive negative effects of poverty in general should factor into understanding the potential benefits of such services in a clinic setting. For those wanting to make a difference that imbeds and persists in the community, the guidance provided in this column provides a brief introduction as to how to begin.Jay E. Berkelhamer, Section Editor Even in an era of robust globalization, in which interconnectedness of populations seems to demand that health care strategies be implemented on a global scale, the actual treatment of disease remains a highly local and individualized affair. At its core, health care is about doctors and other health care practitioners seeing patients, often in the poverty-stricken, war-ravaged, or ill-governed regions where the patients reside. To implement effective health care strategies in these settings requires more than medical expertise and good intentions. It requires an ongoing local presence—practitioners treating patients—and establishing such a presence requires a plan. In addition, US government funding for global health initiatives is now approaching $10 billion annually,1 and universities are demonstrating an ever-increasing interest in global health collaborations,2 so the quality and quantity of resources available to institutions seeking to launch overseas clinics is almost certain to improve over the next decade. Although the particulars of opening such clinics will vary markedly by country, … Address correspondence to Elizabeth Montgomery Collins, MD, MPH, Section of Retrovirology & Global Health, Feigin Center, Suite 630, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: EGMontgomery{at}AAP.net

The Effects of Poverty on Childhood Brain Development

IMPORTANCE The study provides novel data to inform the mechanisms by which poverty negatively impacts childhood brain development. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the income-to-needs ratio experienced in early childhood impacts brain development at school age and to explore the mediators of this effect. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This study was conducted at an academic research unit at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Data from a prospective longitudinal study of emotion development in preschool children who participated in neuroimaging at school age were used to investigate the effects of poverty on brain development. Children were assessed annually for 3 to 6 years prior to the time of a magnetic resonance imaging scan, during which they were evaluated on psychosocial, behavioral, and other developmental dimensions. Preschoolers included in the study were 3 to 6 years of age and were recruited from primary care and day care sites in the St Louis metropolitan area; they were annually assessed behaviorally for 5 to 10 years. Healthy preschoolers and those with clinical symptoms of depression participated in neuroimaging at school age/early adolescence. EXPOSURE Household poverty as measured by the income-to-needs ratio. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Brain volumes of children's white matter and cortical gray matter, as well as hippocampus and amygdala volumes, obtained using magnetic resonance imaging. Mediators of interest were caregiver support/hostility measured observationally during the preschool period and stressful life events measured prospectively. RESULTS Poverty was associated with smaller white and cortical gray matter and hippocampal and amygdala volumes. The effects of poverty on hippocampal volume were mediated by caregiving support/hostility on the left and right, as well as stressful life events on the left. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The finding that exposure to poverty in early childhood materially impacts brain development at school age further underscores the importance of attention to the well-established deleterious effects of poverty on child development. Findings that these effects on the hippocampus are mediated by caregiving and stressful life events suggest that attempts to enhance early caregiving should be a focused public health target for prevention and early intervention. Findings substantiate the behavioral literature on the negative effects of poverty on child development and provide new data confirming that effects extend to brain development. Mechanisms for these effects on the hippocampus are suggested to inform intervention.

Economic Adversity and Depressive Symptoms in Mothers: Do Marital Status and Perceived Social Support Matter?

Over the past decade there has been increasing interest in the idea that marriage and perhaps other forms of interpersonal support can buffer the negative effects of poverty. The current study tests the hypothesis that marital status, perceived social support and neighborhood collective efficacy can moderate the effects of economic adversity on depressive symptoms among parents. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to analyze data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Participants were 1,957 mothers of minor children. Analysis of main effects revealed associations between neighborhood SES (β = −0.69, SE (0.15), p < .001), family income (β = −0.11, SE (0.05), p = .02) financial strain (β = 0.51, SE (0.18), p = .004), being single (β = 0.63, SE (0.24), p = .009) and perceived social support (β = −0.22, SE (0.03), p < .001) on depressive symptoms. The hypothesis that interpersonal resources can buffer the effects of economic adversity was not supported. There were no significant interactions between marital status and economic adversity. There was a significant interaction between perceived social support and neighborhood level socioeconomic status (β = −0.07, SE (0.03), p = .04) but the effects of social support were weakest in neighborhoods characterized by low socioeconomic status.

Teaching the Importance and Use of Web-Based Services to Assist Clients in Obtaining Public Benefits

Research suggests that social work students and practitioners are not particularly sensitive to assessing clients' economic hardship, nor when needed to assist clients in accessing relevant resources such as public benefits. To enhance students' understanding of the importance of engaging in these activities, this article provides educational content on the frequent occurrence and negative effects of poverty, advantages of receiving public benefits, barriers to program participation, and social work values and educational requirements. Examples of web-based services, an efficient strategy to assist economically disadvantaged clients in accessing public benefits, are then provided. Finally, teaching applications are drawn from the previous sections.

A media advocacy intervention linking health disparities and food insecurity

Media advocacy is a well-established strategy for transmitting health messages to the public. This paper discusses a media advocacy intervention that raised issues about how the public interprets messages about the negative effects of poverty on population health. In conjunction with the publication of a manuscript illustrating how income-related food insecurity leads to disparities related to the consumption of a popular food product across Canada (namely, Kraft Dinner®), we launched a media intervention intended to appeal to radio, television, print and Internet journalists. All the media coverage conveyed our intended message that food insecurity is a serious population health problem, confirming that message framing, personal narratives and visual imagery are important in persuading media outlets to carry stories about poverty as a determinant of population health. Among politicians and members of the public (through on-line discussions), the coverage provoked on-message as well as off-message reactions. Population health researchers and health promotion practitioners should anticipate mixed reactions to media advocacy interventions, particularly in light of new Internet technologies. Opposition to media stories regarding the socio-economic determinants of population health can provide new insights into how we might overcome challenges in translating evidence into preventive interventions.

The Bidirectional Effects of Early Poverty on Children's Reading and Home Environment Scores: Associations and Ethnic Differences

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the author reports secondary analyses that examine the bidirectional effects of the duration of early poverty on children's reading and home environment scores. The author focuses on three specific questions: (1) Does the duration of early childhood poverty affect children's reading scores from ages 5 and 6 to ages 11 and 12 after controlling for individual, family, and contextual characteristics? (2) Does the duration of early poverty affect the trajectories for reading and home environment scores from ages 5 and 6 to ages 11 and 12? (3) Are there any differences associated with ethnicity in the trajectories for reading and home scores, and do these differences depend on the duration of early poverty? Findings suggest that a longer duration of early poverty had significant adverse effects on children and these adverse effects became more pronounced as children grew. Early poverty also negatively affected home scores at ages 5 and 6, which, in turn, affected reading scores at ages 5 and 6 and continuously did so as the children grew older. However, these associations between home and reading scores were different across ethnicities with regard to the duration of poverty. KEY WORDS: developmental trajectories; early poverty; ethnic differences; home environments; reading skills ********** Poverty has been regarded as one of the most profound conditions adversely affecting child well-being (Hauser, Brown, & Prosser, 1997; Kamerman & Kahn, 1993). In 2006, approximately 12.3% of the U.S. population, or 36 million people, lived in poverty. In particular, poverty rates for children under the age of 6 (20.7%) are significantly higher than the rates for any other age group (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). The negative effects of poverty on children's outcomes have been widely reported (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997). In addition, studies suggest the quality of parenting is an important mechanism through which poverty affects children's development (Mayer, 1997; Waldfogel, 2006). Furthermore, significant ethnic differences have been reported for child outcomes and parenting skills (Bradley, Corwyn, Burchinal, McAdoo, & Garcia Coll, 2001; Bradley, Corwyn, McAdoo, & Garcia Coll, 2001; Brooks-Gunn, Klebanov, Smith, Duncan, & Lee, 2003; Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005). Despite numerous studies on poverty, the effects of the duration of early poverty on the concurrent trajectories of parenting skills and children's reading scores have not been examined. This study is designed to address three questions: whether duration of early childhood poverty affects children's reading development even after controlling for individual, family, and contextual characteristics; whether it has effects on the parallel trajectories for reading and home environment scores; and whether ethnic differences exist in the association between parenting and reading skills with respect to duration of early poverty. The poverty rate among families with children differs across ethnicities and family structures (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). In 2006, the poverty rate among young, white children was lower (17.5%) than poverty rates for black (39.4%) and Hispanic (29.9%) children. In contrast, the percentage of white children who live in affluent families, above 600% of the poverty threshold, was significantly higher (13.5%) than that of black (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.2%) children. The poverty rate for female-headed households with children, no husband present (26.5%), was significantly higher than that for two-parent families (5.3%). More black families with children lived in poverty (38.2%) than white families with children (24.1%). Twelve million children live in poverty, and disparities in the distribution of household income exist among ethnic subgroups of the population (U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 2004). Poverty receives extensive attention in research for its negative consequences on child outcomes. …