The essay “Life on a Shoestring – American Kids Living in Poverty” highlights the plight of a child raised by a single mother as she navigates through the experience of abject poverty to provide for her child. The story depicts the struggles of low-income families in their quest to provide for their children. From the story, we also learn about the challenges of children born into poor livelihoods and their hope for a better life. The American dream seems ironic because as one reads the essay, one feels that the children think that their present circumstances should have been an issue of the past, and this guilt dampens the spirit and the soul (Nancy). Life on a Shoestring – American Kids Living in Poverty highlights the widening disparity between the poor and the wealthy in America and how the economic systems are set up to benefit the rich and the upper classes. The despair has driven many children from low-income families to a life of crime, prostitution and other vices because of the limited opportunities available to move up in society.
The story of Mariana living in a shelter with her daughter espouses despair yet hope for a better life. She does not have enough space for stacking their clothes and a table to help her daughter with her homework. It pushes her to work hard to provide more for her daughter. The case of Jairo’s family highlights the significant impact policymakers’ decisions have on families. The government and policymakers do not allocate enough money toward social welfare, making low-income families vulnerable, powerless, and susceptible to these decisions. The challenge is that there are limited opportunities for the poor in America to rise through the social ranks, and thus their lives never change. The struggle the families undergo brings to the fore how politics affects livelihoods and children’s emotional and physical development.
The consequences of high rates of childhood poverty in the United States may be observed in the poor grades that these children get in school, which hurts their ability to proceed through life. Consequently, many children who endure childhood trauma turn to crime, prostitution, and drugs to cope with poverty’s emotional and psychosocial effects (Nancy). However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the politicians’ efforts to approve tight budgets to aid low-income families and children are the primary reason. As a first step toward a solution, it is critical to understand the consequences of low budgets for social services on low-income families’ emotional, social, and educational development and the effects of low budgets on low-income families’ economic growth. Moving away from the consideration of the family unit while assisting is critical because it will help protect kids from the emotional, social, and cultural instability that may result from growing up in impoverished families and communities.
Work Cited
Nancy, Claycomb. Life on a Shoestring — American kids living in poverty, 2020.