Teresa Goodman

Teresa Goodman

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Getting to Know Your International Contacts


Dr. Cathy Grace, director of Early Childhood Development, Children's Defense Fund, shares information on the effects of poverty on the early childhood community.

Poverty is an issue that has plagued not only our country but other countries as well. It is a much bigger problem now than ever and it has a damaging effect on a child’s development.  Poverty has a much more damaging effect on children who are born in poverty rather than if conditions were to change after they have reached the age of 8.  Poverty comes with different issues that are physical, mental, and emotional that can take the life out of people.  Families don’t have enough energy to accomplish daily task. Children who are stricken by poverty lack the strength and energy to perform well in school or any other activities.

Today in the United States we have the highest number of children living in poverty than we have had over the past 20 years. In order to bring on change we must start within the community. We have to speak out and take a stand for those who are not able to speak for themselves. The only way a child’s voice can be heard is through us by advocating for their rights. We have to ensure policy makers and government officials are not putting the rights of young children on the back burner. We have to ensure the rights of citizens are being protected. If we lose sight of these issues now and our rights are taken away this could lead to much bigger problems down the road.

We often assume that people living in poverty are not working, but that is not true. Most families in poverty work two to three jobs but are still considered to be within the poverty guideline because there wages are so low. We also assume people who do work may not be willing to further their education. This is why it is very important to get a better understanding of what poverty is and how it has affected so many people. As long as we continue to assume we will never truly understand what it is going to take to address and fix this issue.

In China they have developed key finding and recommendations to address their poverty issues. To address the issue of unemployment and insecure employment, Improved access to relevant and marketable skills that will enable people to find work in a changing job market, re-employment opportunities, and microcredit schemes to assist unemployed and low-income people to start their own small businesses will be made available and increasing the minimum wage so that it is higher than the MLSSA (Minimum Living Standard Security Allowance). Second they would like to improve education and skill levels of poor adults which may include affordable loans and subsides for low income families to have access to technical and vocational skill training. Third, they would also make accessing education for poor families easier by removing cost barriers that may prohibit a child from receiving the best education.

 

References:

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

Course Media: "The Effects of Poverty on the Early Childhood Community"

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