Effects of Poverty on Education

I thought came to mind about the effects of poverty on education because while those children are living in absolute poverty cannot afford basic education, those in relative poverty are forced to dropout half way into their elementary or middle schooling. There may be many reasons for dropout, ranging from inability to pay fees for further education to shouldering family responsibilities. The relationship between poverty and education also works the other way round, with lack of education being one of the most important causes of poverty in the world. In the United States itself, the average income for a high school dropout is far less as compared to the same for a graduate. The effects of poverty on child development are also seen in the classroom, most often in form of low self-esteem. The fact that children from well-to-do families dress better or have more resources can result in a feeling of inferiority in children living in poverty, which may eventually cause the child to withdraw from the learning environment and indulge in anti-social behavior - thus making poverty one of the most serious social issues we are facing today.

If you are of the opinion that these effects of poverty are only restricted to the developing or under developed nations of the world, the compilation of statistics on effects of poverty in America has a totally different tale to tell. For instance, the statistics on homelessness in America puts the figure of homeless people in the country to somewhere between 700,000 to 2 million. That isn't quite surprising if you take into consideration the fact that the rate of poverty in the United States increased from 13.2 percent to 15 percent between 2008 and 2009. Going by the current trends (and rise in the causes of poverty,) it wouldn't be surprising to see these numbers soar in near future. That being said, the need of this hour is to concentrate on identifying the solutions for poverty related problems and implementing them.