Children Growing Up Poor in America Why are some people poor and homeless, while others have so much money they literally throw it away? Depending on who is asked, the reasons for the great inequality range from The United States, the wealthiest nation on Earth, has the widest gapbetween rich and poor of any industrialized nation, and disparities continue to grow. The peoplemost affected by poverty are the future of this country, the children. Young children are thelargest age group living in poverty today. Children are nearly twice as likely as adults to bepoor( Papalia et al. 295). Thousands of children around the United States sit on street cornerseach day begging for change. In New Orleans, you often see these kids tap dancing for thetourists amusement in the French Quarter. It seems cute, but these children are prayingsomebody will give them enough money for them to survive another day. Little do these touristsknow the effects poverty has on children include poor health, ignorance, and crime.Children from disadvantaged families are more likely than any others to have poorhealth. Most parents of poor children have no medical insurance and dont have the money topay medical bills. Less than half of these children are immunized against such preventablediseases as measles, polio, and diphtheria ( Meltzer 44). These childrens poor health oftenbegins before they are born. Pregnant women of low income are less likely to seek prenatal helpand are more likely to have poor nutrition and abuse drugs. This can have devastating effects ona baby ranging from low birth weight and abnormalities to death. There are a few governmentsponsored programs, such as Medicaid, that try and offset medical problems of the poor youth,but these programs do not often reach all that need it. Unfortunately poor health is just thebeginning of problems faced by disadvantaged children. The ability to read and write is a basic condition for social and per...
