The long-term effects of poverty
The long-term effects of poverty
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Issue Date
2006
Authors
Lee, Hazel Gay
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Abstract
Poverty has had a devastating effect on many children in the United States, especially children from minority groups. To understand the long-term effects of poverty, it is important to study college students or graduates who have grown up in severe poverty and later pursued a college education. This qualitative study allowed insight into the struggles of primary years compared to those of college years, especially in reviewing referrals to special education resources and services. It seems that people who grew up in severe poverty are referred for, and have greater struggles with, language skills, reading, vocabulary, health, math and science concepts, self-esteem, and self-worth, not only during their childhood, but also into adulthood. By using a sample of 28 case studies that consist of African-American, Asian-Hmong, Caucasian, and Hispanic ethnic groups of both male and female gender, a relationship of childhood poverty and college struggles showed some interesting results. The ages of the participants were from 19-77 years old. The 28 participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire and shared their personal experiences from both childhood and college. These findings were evaluated and common factors from these 28 strangers showed a pattern supporting a theory that poverty is not a short-term condition, but rather a long-term effect that haunts children even when they pursued a college education.
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Special education