Poverty Impact Analysis Paper

Poverty Impact Analysis Paper

Budget

The budget given above is for a family of four persons. This budget is prepared while considering the Poverty Guidelines of $22,350. Food stamps allow food for the household to eat, including cereals and breads, vegetables and fruits, dairy products, and fish, poultry, and meats. So, these food items will be purchased through food stamps; however, there are some other grocery items that needed to be purchased. These items include vitamins, supplements, and soaps as these items are not included in stamp food (USDA, 2013).

Cost of living in Maryland is high because the index for cost of living is above 100. We live in Hyattsville, Maryland as it is mostly dominated by poverty stricken families like us. The housing and utilities expense is around $1,824, in which housing expense is $1,324 and utilities are estimated to be around $500. These estimations are based on secondary research for cost of living in Maryland (FindTheBest, 2013). I use public transport as my mode of transportation to work, and we buy clothing for the entire family from discount stores. Due to low income, we cannot purchase healthcare insurance. Therefore, we use to purchase OTC medicines. In addition, the education related expenses include tuition and fees, books and supplies, and transportation to school. These estimates are based on education expenses researched through secondary sources, such as elementary tuition and fees of Seneca Academy in Maryland is $11,750 (Seneca Academy, 2013).

Impact of Being Poor

Financial constraints always impact adversely on the lives of people. My family faced financial constraints like very low income, spouse being unemployed, no government assistance beside food stamps and Children's Healthcare Insurance Program. In such a case, my life would be very tensed and depressed because it is very hard to live with an income that covers expenses just hand to mouth. Poverty does not simply results in stress and worries concerning money, but it create a context of stress in which family violence, conflict, residential mobility, and food insecurity commonly occurs (APA, 2012).

Poverty adversely impacts on the whole family, especially children. They are the innocent victims of being in families that lack sufficient wealth to facilitate them living a satisfying life; such children come into marginal living standards. This indicates that my children are rarely able to take part in normal extra-curricular activities like sports, movies, or swimming lessons. Furthermore, in such a way poverty can lead us towards exclusion from mainstream society or negligible relations with others in the wider society (Serr, 2006). Thus, poverty impacts negatively on our social life as well by excluding us from different social activities.

The impacts of financial constraints (poverty) do not allow for the provision of basic family and child needs, for example, sufficient food, housing, and clothing. On the other hand, it also affects on the development, growth, physical, and mental health. It creates environmental deprivations such as failing schools, drugs, gangs, violence, crimes, or struggling families. Thus, my family would face a condition ...