Economic Discrimination
By: Aaron Santa Cruz
Tags: Consequences, Discrimination, Health, Economics, Economic Disparities

Negative Effects of Poverty

Education

Those who live under the poverty line suffer many educational effects. According to The Borgen Project, people who live under the poverty line have a direct correlation to low academic performance “There is a direct correlation between low academic performance and poverty.” (Kellog). This could make getting into college tough. Even if they do go to college, getting out of the massive debt that they collected makes it even harder. They may have to wait years upon years in order to pay off the debt that they pulled out to go to college to help their family. This could make it hard for the children to get top management jobs that could earn them and their families more money. Instead it could cause the child to drop out or have a bad attendance record “Children living in poverty have a higher number of absenteeism or leave school all together because they are more likely to work or care for family members.” (“11 Facts About Education”). Leaving school to help your family is good, but education is also important.

Health

Poverty is also linked to health problems. According to an article from the Do Something Organization, poverty is a cause of developmental issues “Children that live below the poverty line are 1.3 more times more likely to have developmental delays or learning disabilities.” (“11 facts About Education”). Depression is also prevalent according to an article from US News, “Almost half of children who live in poverty have mothers with at least some symptoms of depression.” (Esposito). Decreased life expectancy is also prevalent “Between 10 and nearly 15 years- that’s the difference in life expectancy between the poorest and richest people.” (Esposito). When poverty leads to stress on the entire family, it can cause some unwanted side effects “‘If a child is exposed to constant stress in a childhood, essentially their stress mechanism is never turned off.’ Duffe Says. ‘So it resets at a higher level, a higher heart rate, higher blood pressure.’” (Esposito). The risk of unwanted effects of stress can come in and make someone’s life a whole lot worse than it was before. Along with stress and depression comes the rise in cortisol levels. Cortisol is responsible for regulating proteins,carbohydrates and fats. It also regulates heart functions like blood pressure and blood sugar. The risk of injury can also increase “‘ They live in substandard housing. They can live in dangerous neighborhoods where they can be shot or injured.’” (Esposito). No one wants to get shot. These people do their best and live with what they have.

Crime

Another consequence of poverty is crime and the judicial system. In fact “ ‘POVERTY’. Wrote Aristotle, ‘is the parent of crime’ ” (“To Have and Have Not”). This means that poverty is connected to crime in a multitude of ways. Also according to The Borgen Project, poverty can lead to crime “Lack of economic opportunity leads to impoverishment which then leads to crime.” (Kellog). Crime is also another reason that people should help others that live under the poverty line. If the population wants less crime, help the people who are causing it, and it could go away faster. Poverty is also prevalent in teenagers as well, making crime a topic that’s hard to solve, according to Economist, “teenagers who had grown up in families whose earnings were among the bottom fifth were seven times more likely to be convicted of violent crimes.” (“To Have and Have Not”). Unfortunately, this means that teens are a lot more likely to commit crimes if their families are poor. This can cause problems in neighborhoods that are already poor. Crime could cause some unwanted side effects. After the crime is committed, if they’re caught, they go to a judge. The judicial system may still bias. In fact “The federal crack cocaine sentencing laws of the 1980s have received significant attention due to their highly disproportionate racial outcomes” (“Justice for All?”). This means that the judicial system might be biased. This isn’t fair because that could mean worse sentencing to those people. The statistics show that black people have a higher chance of going to prison “One of every three black males born today will go to prison in his lifetime as well, as will one of every six Latino males.” (“Justice for All?”). This also shows that the judicial system might be biased. One fact to really prove it is that there have been practices that are very different “Disparate practices of law enforcement related to the ‘War on Drugs’ have been well documented in many jurisdictions.” (“Justice for All”). Disparate means “not equal”. That could mean that the judicial system is somewhat biased.

Social

The final consequence of poverty are the social consequences. According to an Empirical Test, poverty has negative effects on social life, “Poverty in general has negative effects on social life.” (Mood). Sometimes, just because the person is poor, they don’t partake in public events because they think that they might be viewed negatively. In fact, being poor doesn’t excuse you from events, “Being poor is not about being able to partake in society on equal terms with others.” (Mood). Sometimes poor people are “withdrawing from social and civic life because of lack of economic resources.” (Mood). This isn’t good. The stigma around poor people needs to end now. In fact, “It has more harmful effects for relations with friends than for social support.” (Mood). If poor people were more social, problems like depression and stress could wither away and the negative effects that they cause. Also, women who are affected by poverty sometimes have less fancy clothes and abstain from public events because of how they look. If we help the poor, things could look a lot nicer and everyone could have a fair chance at life, rather than being discriminated against.