Stress of Poverty on Child Development

Open your cupboard door, grab a can of soup, warm up and eat; sounds simple enough but for many individuals that is not simple at all. In today’s society hunger is an ongoing issue for many individuals and families. According to the article “Spatial variation in poverty-generating processes: Child poverty in the United States” (Katherine J. Curtis, 2012) there are 43 million Americans that live in poverty everyday.  There has been an increase in the levels of poverty among the younger population since the 1990’s and I was one of those populations.

      One of my earliest memories of shame is of a Friday in second grade, I was getting ready to go home and a teacher asked me what I was doing for the weekend. I tell her that our food stamps have arrived and we are going to get groceries this weekend. She leaned in and whispered to me that maybe I shouldn’t say that so loud.  I fled home with cheeks burning, eyes blurred from tears and a heaviness in my chest. I have always remembered that day, the feeling that I need to hide my life from others,

     I remember throughout my childhood and life hiding my poverty from friends and co-workers, the embarrassment I felt when discussing weekend plans and not being able to join because of no extra funds. The first time I went to a food shelf I had to sit in my car for 2 hours crying before I could actually go in to get help and it took me two days before I could decide to eat the food and not return it to the food shelf.

      I worked my way up economically and was doing well until I became pregnant and the pregnancy sickness required bed rest leading me to lose my job and go back to being one of the populations affected by poverty.  This time I was able to utilize WIC (Women, Infants and Children) food supplements and once the baby arrived I qualified for food assistance through the SNAP program and cash assistance. In the state of Minnesota the maximum amount of cash assistance a 2-person household can receive is $437.00 and food stamps is $327.00. It was difficult to provide a stable environment for my child and myself with that amount of assistance even living with a relative who owned a home and provided economic assistance.

      I choose to review poverty in the United States because I was and am a person who navigates the poverty cycle of loss and attempts to utilize resources in the United States. The resources available are food stamps, food shelves, some cash assistance for people who are not making over $1100.00 a month, assistance from Salvation Army vouchers, assistance programs through United Way, free and reduced lunch programs in schools, backpack programs that send food home with kids on the weekends and other private funding. There has been a new phenomenon taking place through social networking such as Facebook where individuals in an area create groups connecting them with others to share items such as clothing, furniture, household items and sometimes food. These groups are a great resource of information and place to make friends you can turn to in times of needs.

Reference:

Katherine J. Curtis, P. R. (2012, August 11). Spatial variation in poverty-generating processes: Child poverty in the United States. Social Science Research .