essay for poor family

Poverty Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on poverty essay.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence”. – Mahatma Gandhi.

How Poverty is Measured?

For measuring poverty United nations have devised two measures of poverty – Absolute & relative poverty.  Absolute poverty is used to measure poverty in developing countries like India. Relative poverty is used to measure poverty in developed countries like the USA. In absolute poverty, a line based on the minimum level of income has been created & is called a poverty line.  If per day income of a family is below this level, then it is poor or below the poverty line. If per day income of a family is above this level, then it is non-poor or above the poverty line. In India, the new poverty line is  Rs 32 in rural areas and Rs 47 in urban areas.

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Causes of Poverty

According to the Noble prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela – “Poverty is not natural, it is manmade”. The above statement is true as the causes of poverty are generally man-made. There are various causes of poverty but the most important is population. Rising population is putting the burden on the resources & budget of countries. Governments are finding difficult to provide food, shelter & employment to the rising population.

The other causes are- lack of education, war, natural disaster, lack of employment, lack of infrastructure, political instability, etc. For instance- lack of employment opportunities makes a person jobless & he is not able to earn enough to fulfill the basic necessities of his family & becomes poor. Lack of education compels a person for less paying jobs & it makes him poorer. Lack of infrastructure means there are no industries, banks, etc. in a country resulting in lack of employment opportunities. Natural disasters like flood, earthquake also contribute to poverty.

In some countries, especially African countries like Somalia, a long period of civil war has made poverty widespread. This is because all the resources & money is being spent in war instead of public welfare. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. are prone to natural disasters like cyclone, etc. These disasters occur every year causing poverty to rise.

Ill Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects the life of a poor family. A poor person is not able to take proper food & nutrition &his capacity to work reduces. Reduced capacity to work further reduces his income, making him poorer. Children from poor family never get proper schooling & proper nutrition. They have to work to support their family & this destroys their childhood. Some of them may also involve in crimes like theft, murder, robbery, etc. A poor person remains uneducated & is forced to live under unhygienic conditions in slums. There are no proper sanitation & drinking water facility in slums & he falls ill often &  his health deteriorates. A poor person generally dies an early death. So, all social evils are related to poverty.

Government Schemes to Remove Poverty

The government of India also took several measures to eradicate poverty from India. Some of them are – creating employment opportunities , controlling population, etc. In India, about 60% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. Government has taken certain measures to promote agriculture in India. The government constructed certain dams & canals in our country to provide easy availability of water for irrigation. Government has also taken steps for the cheap availability of seeds & farming equipment to promote agriculture. Government is also promoting farming of cash crops like cotton, instead of food crops. In cities, the government is promoting industrialization to create more jobs. Government has also opened  ‘Ration shops’. Other measures include providing free & compulsory education for children up to 14 years of age, scholarship to deserving students from a poor background, providing subsidized houses to poor people, etc.

Poverty is a social evil, we can also contribute to control it. For example- we can simply donate old clothes to poor people, we can also sponsor the education of a poor child or we can utilize our free time by teaching poor students. Remember before wasting food, somebody is still sleeping hungry.

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7 Essays About Poverty: Example Essays and Prompts

Essays about poverty give valuable insight into the economic situation that we share globally. Read our guide with poverty essay examples and prompts for your paper.

In the US, the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people living below the poverty line. With a global pandemic, cost of living crisis, and climate change on the rise, we’ve seen poverty increase due to various factors. As many of us face adversity daily, we can look to essays about poverty from some of the world’s greatest speakers for inspiration and guidance.

There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer. There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum—and livable—income for every American family. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

Writing a poverty essay can be challenging due to the many factors contributing to poverty and the knock-on effects of living below the poverty line . For example, homelessness among low-income individuals stems from many different causes.

It’s important to note that poverty exists beyond the US, with many developing countries living in extreme poverty without access to essentials like clean water and housing. For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

Essays About Poverty: Top Examples

1. pensioner poverty: fear of rise over decades as uk under-40s wealth falls, 2. the surprising poverty levels across the u.s., 3. why poverty persists in america, 4. post-pandemic poverty is rising in america’s suburbs.

• 5. The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty
• 6. The State of America’s Children 
• 7. COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

10 Poverty Essay Topics

1. the causes of poverty, 2. the negative effects of poverty, 3. how countries can reduce poverty rates, 4. the basic necessities and poverty, 5. how disabilities can lead to poverty, 6. how the cycle of poverty unfolds , 7. universal basic income and its relationship to poverty, 8. interview someone who has experience living in poverty, 9. the impact of the criminal justice system on poverty, 10. the different ways to create affordable housing.

There is growing concern about increasing pensioner poverty in the UK in the coming decades. Due to financial challenges like the cost of living crisis, rent increases, and the COVID-19 pandemic, under 40s have seen their finances shrink.

Osborne discusses the housing wealth gap in this article, where many under the 40s currently pay less in a pension due to rent prices. While this means they will have less pension available, they will also retire without owning a home, resulting in less personal wealth than previous generations. Osborne delves into the causes and gaps in wealth between generations in this in-depth essay.

“Those under-40s have already been identified as  facing the biggest hit from rising mortgage rates , and last week a study by the financial advice firm Hargreaves Lansdown found that almost a third of 18- to 34-year-olds had stopped or cut back on their pension contributions in order to save money.” Hilary Osborne,  The Guardian

In this 2023 essay, Jeremy Ney looks at the poverty levels across the US, stating that poverty has had the largest one-year increase in history. According to the most recent census, child poverty has more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

Ney states that the expiration of government support and inflation has created new financial challenges for US families. With the increased cost of living and essential items like food and housing sharply increasing, more and more families have fallen below the poverty line. Throughout this essay, Ney displays statistics and data showing the wealth changes across states, ethnic groups, and households.

“Poverty in America reflects the inequality that plagues U.S. households. While certain regions have endured this pain much more than others, this new rising trend may spell ongoing challenges for even more communities.” Jeremy Ney,  TIME

In this New York Times article, a Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist explores why poverty exists in North America.

The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does. But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most. Matthew Desmond,  The New York Times

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its annual data on poverty, revealing contrasting trends for 2022. While one set of findings indicated that the overall number of Americans living in poverty remained stable compared to the previous two years, another survey highlighted a concerning increase in child poverty. The rate of child poverty in the U.S. doubled from 2021 to 2022, a spike attributed mainly to the cessation of the expanded child tax credit following the pandemic. These varied outcomes underscore the Census Bureau’s multifaceted methods to measure poverty.

“The nation’s suburbs accounted for the majority of increases in the poor population following the onset of the pandemic” Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube,  Brookings

5.  The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty

Nearly 11 million children are living in poverty in America. This essay explores ow the crisis reached this point—and what steps must be taken to solve it.

“In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country.” Areeba Haider,  Center for American Progress

6.  The State of America’s Children  

This essay articles how, despite advancements, children continue to be the most impoverished demographic in the U.S., with particular subgroups — such as children of color, those under five, offspring of single mothers, and children residing in the South — facing the most severe poverty levels.

“Growing up in poverty has wide-ranging, sometimes lifelong, effects on children, putting them at a much higher risk of experiencing behavioral, social, emotional, and health challenges. Childhood poverty also plays an instrumental role in impairing a child’s ability and capacity to learn, build skills, and succeed academically.” Children’s Defense Fund

7.  COVID-19: This is how many Americans now live below the poverty line

This essay explores how the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic 2020 led to a surge in U.S. poverty rates, with unemployment figures reaching unprecedented heights. The writer provides data confirming that individuals at the lowest economic strata bore the brunt of these challenges, indicating that the recession might have exacerbated income disparities, further widening the chasm between the affluent and the underprivileged.

“Poverty in the U.S. increased in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy and unemployment soared. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder were hit hardest, new figures confirm, suggesting that the recession may have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.” Elena Delavega,  World Econmic Forum

If you’re tasked with writing an essay about poverty, consider using the below topics. They offer pointers for outlining and planning an essay about this challenging topic.

One of the most specific poverty essay topics to address involves the causes of poverty. You can craft an essay to examine the most common causes of extreme poverty. Here are a few topics you might want to include:

• Racial discrimination, particularly among African Americans, has been a common cause of poverty throughout American history. Discrimination and racism can make it hard for people to get the education they need, making it nearly impossible to get a job.
• A lack of access to adequate health care can also lead to poverty. When people do not have access to healthcare, they are more likely to get sick. This could make it hard for them to go to work while also leading to major medical bills.
• Inadequate food and water can lead to poverty as well. If people’s basic needs aren’t met, they focus on finding food and water instead of getting an education they can use to find a better job.

These are just a few of the most common causes of poverty you might want to highlight in your essay. These topics could help people see why some people are more likely to become impoverished than others. You might also be interested in these essays about poverty .

Poverty affects everyone, and the impacts of an impoverished lifestyle are very real. Furthermore, the disparities when comparing adult poverty to child poverty are also significant. This opens the doors to multiple possible essay topics. Here are a few points to include:

• When children live in poverty, their development is stunted. For example, they might not be able to get to school on time due to a lack of transportation, making it hard for them to keep up with their peers. Child poverty also leads to malnutrition, which can stunt their development.
• Poverty can impact familial relationships as well. For example, members of the same family could fight for limited resources, making it hard for family members to bond. In addition, malnutrition can stunt the growth of children.
• As a side effect of poverty, people have difficulty finding a safe place to live. This creates a challenging environment for everyone involved, and it is even harder for children to grow and develop.
• When poverty leads to homelessness, it is hard for someone to get a job. They don’t have an address to use for physical communication, which leads to employment concerns.

These are just a few of the many side effects of poverty. Of course, these impacts are felt by people across the board, but it is not unusual for children to feel the effects of poverty that much more. You might also be interested in these essays about unemployment .

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty

The issue of poverty is a major human rights concern, and many countries explore poverty reduction strategies to improve people’s quality of life. You might want to examine different strategies that different countries are taking while also suggesting how some countries can do more. A few ways to write this essay include:

• Explore the poverty level in America, comparing it to the poverty level of a European country. Then, explore why different countries take different strategies.
• Compare the minimum wage in one state, such as New York, to the minimum wage in another state, such as Alabama. Why is it higher in one state? What does raising the minimum wage do to the cost of living?
• Highlight a few advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations actively lobbying their governments to do more for low-income families. Then, talk about why some efforts are more successful than others.

Different countries take different approaches to reduce the number of people living in poverty. Poverty within each country is such a broad topic that you could write a different essay on how poverty could be decreased within the country. For more, check out our list of simple essays topics for intermediate writers .

You could also write an essay on the necessities people need to survive. You could take a look at information published by the United Nations , which focuses on getting people out of the cycle of poverty across the globe. The social problem of poverty can be addressed by giving people the necessities they need to survive, particularly in rural areas. Here are some of the areas you might want to include:

• Affordable housing
• Fresh, healthy food and clean water
• Access to an affordable education
• Access to affordable healthcare

Giving everyone these necessities could significantly improve their well-being and get people out of absolute poverty. You might even want to talk about whether these necessities vary depending on where someone is living.

There are a lot of medical and social issues that contribute to poverty, and you could write about how disabilities contribute to poverty. This is one of the most important essay topics because people could be disabled through no fault of their own. Some of the issues you might want to address in this essay include:

• Talk about the road someone faces if they become disabled while serving overseas. What is it like for people to apply for benefits through the Veterans’ Administration?
• Discuss what happens if someone becomes disabled while at work. What is it like for someone to pursue disability benefits if they are hurt doing a blue-collar job instead of a desk job?
• Research and discuss the experiences of disabled people and how their disability impacts their financial situation.

People who are disabled need to have money to survive for many reasons, such as the inability to work, limitations at home, and medical expenses. A lack of money, in this situation, can lead to a dangerous cycle that can make it hard for someone to be financially stable and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Many people talk about the cycle of poverty, yet many aren’t entirely sure what this means or what it entails. A few key points you should address in this essay include:

• When someone is born into poverty, income inequality can make it hard to get an education.
• A lack of education makes it hard for someone to get into a good school, which gives them the foundation they need to compete for a good job. 
• A lack of money can make it hard for someone to afford college, even if they get into a good school.
• Without attending a good college, it can be hard for someone to get a good job. This makes it hard for someone to support themselves or their families. 
• Without a good paycheck, it is nearly impossible for someone to keep their children out of poverty, limiting upward mobility into the middle class.

The problem of poverty is a positive feedback loop. It can be nearly impossible for those who live this every day to escape. Therefore, you might want to explore a few initiatives that could break the cycle of world poverty and explore other measures that could break this feedback loop.

Many business people and politicians have floated the idea of a universal basic income to give people the basic resources they need to survive. While this hasn’t gotten a lot of serious traction, you could write an essay to shed light on this idea. A few points to hit on include:

• What does a universal basic income mean, and how is it distributed?
• Some people are concerned about the impact this would have on taxes. How would this be paid for?
• What is the minimum amount of money someone would need to stay out of poverty? Is it different in different areas?
• What are a few of the biggest reasons major world governments haven’t passed this?

This is one of the best essay examples because it gives you a lot of room to be creative. However, there hasn’t been a concrete structure for implementing this plan, so you might want to afford one.

Another interesting topic you might want to explore is interviewing someone living in poverty or who has been impoverished. While you can talk about statistics all day, they won’t be as powerful as interviewing someone who has lived that life. A few questions you might want to ask during your interview include:

• What was it like growing up?
• How has living in poverty made it hard for you to get a job?
• What do you feel people misunderstand about those who live in poverty?
• When you need to find a meal, do you have a place you go to? Or is it somewhere different every day?
• What do you think is the main contributor to people living in poverty?

Remember that you can also craft different questions depending on your responses. You might want to let the interviewee read the essay when you are done to ensure all the information is accurate and correct.

The criminal justice system and poverty tend to go hand in hand. People with criminal records are more likely to be impoverished for several reasons. You might want to write an essay that hits on some of these points:

• Discuss the discriminatory practices of the criminal justice system both as they relate to socioeconomic status and as they relate to race.
• Explore just how hard it is for someone to get a job if they have a criminal record. Discuss how this might contribute to a life of poverty.
• Dive into how this creates a positive feedback loop. For example, when someone cannot get a job due to a criminal record, they might have to steal to survive, which worsens the issue.
• Review what the criminal justice system might be like for someone with resources when compared to someone who cannot afford to hire expert witnesses or pay for a good attorney.

You might want to include a few examples of disparate sentences for people in different socioeconomic situations to back up your points. 

Affordable housing can make a major difference when someone is trying to escape poverty

Many poverty-related problems could be reduced if people had access to affordable housing. While the cost of housing has increased dramatically in the United States , some initiatives exist to create affordable housing. Here are a few points to include:

• Talk about public programs that offer affordable housing to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Discuss private programs, such as Habitat for Humanity , doing similar things.
• Review the positive impacts that stable housing has on both adults and children.
• Dive into other measures local and federal governments could take to provide more affordable housing for people.

There are a lot of political and social angles to address with this essay, so you might want to consider spreading this out across multiple papers. Affordable housing can make a major difference when trying to escape poverty. If you want to learn more, check out our essay writing tips !

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Essay about Family: What It Is and How to Nail It

Humans naturally seek belonging within families, finding comfort in knowing someone always cares. Yet, families can also stir up insecurities and mental health struggles.

Family dynamics continue to intrigue researchers across different fields. Every year, new studies explore how these relationships shape our minds and emotions.

In this article, our dissertation service will guide you through writing a family essay. You can also dive into our list of topics for inspiration and explore some standout examples to spark your creativity.

What is Family Essay

A family essay takes a close look at the bonds and experiences within families. It's a common academic assignment, especially in subjects like sociology, psychology, and literature.

So, what's involved exactly? Simply put, it's an exploration of what family signifies to you. You might reflect on cherished family memories or contemplate the portrayal of families in various media.

What sets a family essay apart is its personal touch. It allows you to express your own thoughts and experiences. Moreover, it's versatile – you can analyze family dynamics, reminisce about family customs, or explore other facets of familial life.

If you're feeling uncertain about how to write an essay about family, don't worry; you can explore different perspectives and select topics that resonate with various aspects of family life.

Tips For Writing An Essay On Family Topics

A family essay typically follows a free-form style, unless specified otherwise, and adheres to the classic 5-paragraph structure. As you jot down your thoughts, aim to infuse your essay with inspiration and the essence of creative writing, unless your family essay topics lean towards complexity or science.

Here are some easy-to-follow tips from our essay service experts:

• Focus on a Specific Aspect: Instead of a broad overview, delve into a specific angle that piques your interest, such as exploring how birth order influences sibling dynamics or examining the evolving role of grandparents in modern families.
• Share Personal Anecdotes: Start your family essay introduction with a personal touch by sharing stories from your own experiences. Whether it's about a favorite tradition, a special trip, or a tough time, these stories make your writing more interesting.
• Use Real-life Examples: Illustrate your points with concrete examples or anecdotes. Draw from sources like movies, books, historical events, or personal interviews to bring your ideas to life.
• Explore Cultural Diversity: Consider the diverse array of family structures across different cultures. Compare traditional values, extended family systems, or the unique hurdles faced by multicultural families.
• Take a Stance: Engage with contentious topics such as homeschooling, reproductive technologies, or governmental policies impacting families. Ensure your arguments are supported by solid evidence.
• Delve into Psychology: Explore the psychological underpinnings of family dynamics, touching on concepts like attachment theory, childhood trauma, or patterns of dysfunction within families.
• Emphasize Positivity: Share uplifting stories of families overcoming adversity or discuss strategies for nurturing strong, supportive family bonds.
• Offer Practical Solutions: Wrap up your essay by proposing actionable solutions to common family challenges, such as fostering better communication, achieving work-life balance, or advocating for family-friendly policies.

Family Essay Topics

When it comes to writing, essay topics about family are often considered easier because we're intimately familiar with our own families. The more you understand about your family dynamics, traditions, and experiences, the clearer your ideas become.

If you're feeling uninspired or unsure of where to start, don't worry! Below, we have compiled a list of good family essay topics to help get your creative juices flowing. Whether you're assigned this type of essay or simply want to explore the topic, these suggestions from our history essay writer are tailored to spark your imagination and prompt meaningful reflection on different aspects of family life.

So, take a moment to peruse the list. Choose the essay topics about family that resonate most with you. Then, dive in and start exploring your family's stories, traditions, and connections through your writing.

• Supporting Family Through Tough Times
• Staying Connected with Relatives
• Empathy and Compassion in Family Life
• Strengthening Bonds Through Family Gatherings
• Quality Time with Family: How Vital Is It?
• Navigating Family Relationships Across Generations
• Learning Kindness and Generosity in a Large Family
• Communication in Healthy Family Dynamics
• Forgiveness in Family Conflict Resolution
• Building Trust Among Extended Family
• Defining Family in Today's World
• Understanding Nuclear Family: Various Views and Cultural Differences
• Understanding Family Dynamics: Relationships Within the Family Unit
• What Defines a Family Member?
• Modernizing the Nuclear Family Concept
• Exploring Shared Beliefs Among Family Members
• Evolution of the Concept of Family Love Over Time
• Examining Family Expectations
• Modern Standards and the Idea of an Ideal Family
• Life Experiences and Perceptions of Family Life
• Genetics and Extended Family Connections
• Utilizing Family Trees for Ancestral Links
• The Role of Younger Siblings in Family Dynamics
• Tracing Family History Through Oral Tradition and Genealogy
• Tracing Family Values Through Your Family Tree
• Exploring Your Elder Sister's Legacy in the Family Tree
• Connecting Daily Habits to Family History
• Documenting and Preserving Your Family's Legacy
• Navigating Online Records and DNA Testing for Family History
• Tradition as a Tool for Family Resilience
• Involving Family in Daily Life to Maintain Traditions
• Creating New Traditions for a Small Family
• The Role of Traditions in Family Happiness
• Family Recipes and Bonding at House Parties
• Quality Time: The Secret Tradition for Family Happiness
• The Joy of Cousins Visiting for Christmas
• Including Family in Birthday Celebrations
• Balancing Traditions and Unconditional Love
• Building Family Bonds Through Traditions

Looking for Speedy Assistance With Your College Essays?

Reach out to our skilled writers, and they'll provide you with a top-notch paper that's sure to earn an A+ grade in record time!

Family Essay Example

For a better grasp of the essay on family, our team of skilled writers has crafted a great example. It looks into the subject matter, allowing you to explore and understand the intricacies involved in creating compelling family essays. So, check out our meticulously crafted sample to discover how to craft essays that are not only well-written but also thought-provoking and impactful.

Final Outlook

In wrapping up, let's remember: a family essay gives students a chance to showcase their academic skills and creativity by sharing personal stories. However, it's important to stick to academic standards when writing about these topics. We hope our list of topics sparked your creativity and got you on your way to a reflective journey. And if you hit a rough patch, you can just ask us to ' do my essay for me ' for top-notch results!

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FAQs on Writing an Essay about Family

Family essays seem like something school children could be assigned at elementary schools, but family is no less important than climate change for our society today, and therefore it is one of the most central research themes.

Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions on family-related topics. Before you conduct research, scroll through them and find out how to write an essay about your family.

How to Write an Essay About Your Family History?

How to write an essay about a family member, how to write an essay about family and roots, how to write an essay about the importance of family, related articles.

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War On Poverty, 50 Years Later

One family's story shows how the cycle of poverty is hard to break.

Pam Fessler

Desiree Metcalf, here with one of her three daughters, is one of many poor Americans who find themselves trapped in a system meant to help. Pam Fessler/NPR hide caption

Desiree Metcalf, here with one of her three daughters, is one of many poor Americans who find themselves trapped in a system meant to help.

Desiree Metcalf's story is heartbreaking, but among the 46 million Americans who are poor today, her story is not unique.

Metcalf is 24 years old.

She's the mother of three little girls — ages 6, 4 and 2. They all have different fathers.

"That about sums me up, I think," she says.

Metcalf is sitting on the floor of her two-bedroom apartment in the small town of Bath, in western New York. A fish tank gurgles in the background. A tiny kitten peeks out from under the furniture. Her youngest daughter is curled up under a blue blanket, head resting on her mother's lap.

Metcalf got married two years ago to a man who isn't the father of any of her children, but he recently left her for someone else.

"I just feel like I get one piece of good news that makes me [think] life isn't gonna be that bad, and then here comes 30 things to basically push me right back down in this hole that I feel like I've been trying to dig myself out of for the last probably 15 years," she says.

Metcalf did not just become poor. A lot of bad things happened to get her there. Like many others who are poor, she doesn't have just one or two problems, but a whole pile of them.

She was raised by a single mother, who was also poor. Metcalf says they didn't always get along. And things came to a head when she was 12 years old.

"My mom and I got in a fight and she told me she was going to kill me," she recalls. "And I wrapped a belt around my neck and told her I would do it for her. I ended up in a psychiatric hospital and from there I went to foster care."

That meant moving from home to home to home. Metcalf says she attended 26 different schools.

"Seems I'd just get my bags unpacked and it was time to move again," she says.

The Changing Picture Of Poverty: Hard Work Is 'Just Not Enough'

'So Here I Am'

Metcalf, who has dark blond hair pulled back from a tired face, admits she's been responsible for some of her own problems. She says she used to be an alcoholic and was into self-harm, which means she cut herself to feel the pain. Today she has tattoos on her arms to cover the scars. Metcalf says she also smoked "like a chimney."

"I first knew Desiree when she was 15, and I was in a different agency working with her family with the goal of reunification," says Marian Rezelman, now with a local nonprofit community action agency, Pro Action, still working with Metcalf and her family.

"She did come back and graduated from high school and was all set to go to college and then turned up pregnant," Rezelman says.

Poverty In America: The Struggle To Get Ahead

To beat odds, poor single moms need wide safety net.

And this is not at all unusual for girls who've been in foster care. Nearly half become pregnant by the time they're 19. Metcalf had a full scholarship to a university in Florida. She knew her life had taken a detour.

"That was my ticket out of here," Metcalf says. "So here I am — not in Florida."

Like many before her, she carried her poverty into adulthood, doing odd jobs with periods of homelessness and hunger. But more disturbing is that poverty is now starting to take its toll on her children, especially her eldest daughter. Metcalf says she recently tried to run away from home in the middle of the night.

"She's got some emotional issues," Metcalf says. "And we went through everything from making ourselves puke after we eat to running away to wanting to kill themselves. And she's 6 years old."

That might lead one to ask: Isn't there some help this family can get?

In fact, there's plenty. The government and charities have spent thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars on Metcalf and her family already — food stamps, health care, housing, Head Start. Many of the programs Metcalf has participated in emerged almost 50 years ago after President Lyndon Johnson declared a war on poverty.

But the programs clearly haven't been enough to get her up on her own two feet. One reason is that Metcalf can't get a job even though the government spent $3,000 to train her as a certified nursing assistant, something she's always wanted to do.

But she ran into a problem faced by many low-income workers: transportation. Her car was recently totaled by someone backing out of a driveway.

"So now my vehicle is gone and [I] have no way to get back and forth to work reliably, and unfortunately, there's not much in this town as of work," she says.

Mass transit is virtually nonexistent in this rural area.

Also, with her husband gone, Metcalf now has something else to worry about. "If you get a job and they take you off public assistance, then they don't pay for day care," she notes, adding that it's an expense that would very likely eat up most of her earnings.

How To Possibly Come Out Ahead

Metcalf faces another situation common among low-income workers. She knows if she starts making money, other benefits — like food stamps — will be cut or eliminated.

Just recently, the family's food stamp benefit dropped from $700 a month to $200 because her daughter started to receive $744 a month from Social Security to treat her emotional issues and her husband began working part time at McDonald's. Of course, now he's gone.

"I guess to me the system seems backward. I mean, they should be more for helping you, not kind of setting you up to fail, so to speak," Metcalf says.

And there's one more thing. Although Metcalf is only 24, she's missing most of her top front teeth. She says it's from hereditary gum disease. Medicaid paid $3,000 for a partial bridge, but now she can't use it because her other teeth are crumbling.

Rezelman points out that Metcalf could get more dental work, but there are no providers who accept Medicaid in the Bath area. Metcalf would have to go to Rochester to have the work done, but again, she has no transportation.

"It's distressing because you have to be so motivated and capable to navigate those systems and come out ahead," Rezelman says.

It's a complaint you hear again and again, not just from those who get government aid, but sometimes from providers.

Kathryn Muller is the commissioner of social services for Steuben County, where Metcalf lives. Muller says her office provides an array of services to help the county's struggling families.

"Really, it's sometimes hand-holding. It's working with employers and putting case managers with individuals who are starting employment and helping them," she says.

But she says sometimes their hands are tied by state and federal laws. For example, welfare recipients can meet their work requirements by going to school, but only for a year.

"One year is great. It's better than what used to be, but you can't get an associate's degree in one year," says Muller.

Even though, she notes, one of the main reasons people can't get work is a lack of education.

Muller says some of the limits on government aid are there to prevent people from abusing the system, but she thinks there's also a misperception about the poor.

"It's not a chosen lifestyle. Certainly there is abuse out there. There's abuse no matter what it is. But it's not a chosen lifestyle," she says.

Metcalf could not agree more. She just wishes it wasn't such a struggle getting help. Still, she hopes someday to get back to college.

"I haven't given up my dream yet. I just keep putting it on the back burner until it ain't raining so hard, I guess," she says.

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How Should I Go About Writing My Family Essay?: Examples and Tips

Family is an integral part of every individual's life. Delving into the intricate layers of family relationships and dynamics can yield a captivating essay. Here's a comprehensive guide with examples and tips to guide you through the process.

What Topics Should I Write About for My Family Essay?

Choosing the right topic is essential. Here are some suggestions:

Writing a Family Tree Dive into your roots! A family tree can be more than names and dates; it can narrate stories of ancestors, their challenges, achievements, and legacies. For instance, "When I looked into our family tree, I discovered that my great-grandfather was a sailor who traveled the world and had countless tales of adventures, some of which have become legendary bedtime stories in our family."

Describing My Family in My Essay Discuss each family member in detail. "My sister, with her fiery red hair and matching temper, is the exact opposite of my calm and analytical brother. Yet, when they come together, they create the most amazing music, with him on the piano and her singing."

Writing About a Personal Memory Share a poignant memory. "I remember the time when our cat, Whiskers, went missing. The entire family turned detectives overnight, searching for clues, putting up posters, and even setting up a 'cat trap' with her favorite treats. The adventure ended with Whiskers found sleeping peacefully in the neighbor's shed, unaware of the chaos she had caused."

Dos and Don’ts When Writing a Family Stories Essay

• Be authentic.
• Use vivid descriptions and dialogues.
• Respect privacy; ask permission if sharing personal details.
• Avoid making generalizations.
• Refrain from being overly negative or critical.
• Don't plagiarize; every family's story is unique.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a good hook for an essay on my family? As Tolstoy once said, 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Our family, though, has found its unique shade of happiness.
• What should I include in an essay about me and my family? Descriptions of family members, memories, traditions, challenges, and lessons.
• How should I start an essay all about my family? Every time I think of the word 'home,' an image of our old cottage, Sunday dinners, and loud family debates comes to mind.
• How long should my essay about my family be? Length depends on the requirement; academic essays typically range from 500-1000 words, while personal essays can vary.
• How do I make my family essay engaging? Incorporate stories, memories, and emotions.
• Is it okay to discuss family challenges in my essay? Yes, but be sensitive and respectful.
• Can I add humor to my family essay? Yes, as long as it's in good taste.

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Poverty and child welfare

• Understanding poverty
• Child poverty in Ontario
• Poverty in Indigenous and racialized communities
• Effects of poverty on children

Effects of poverty on families

• Child welfare and poverty
• Working with low-income families
• More resources

Poverty can negatively impact families and caregivers in a number of ways:

• As with children, adults who live in poverty experience worse health outcomes, including higher mortality rates  and increased risk of mental health conditions (e.g. depression, substance use disorders). The stress of poverty, coupled with inadequate health care access and limited financial resources for treatment, further exacerbates health conditions and makes parenting even more challenging
• Poverty can create considerable stress for families. As per the family stress model , poverty can contribute to interparental conflict, which plays a key role in family dynamics and can be a precursor to negative child outcomes. Conflict can also arise between children and parents because of economic pressures. For example, children may resent parents for having to work late or not being able to provide small luxuries. Finally, the living conditions associated with poverty - notably overcrowded housing and housing instability - can negatively affect all family relationships, including sibling relationships
• Poverty can make it difficult for parents to maintain a work-life balance that allows them to spend time at home caring for their children and to be active and involved with school, extracurricular activities, and community life. Parents on a low income are more likely to work long hours in  precarious jobs  that do not provide basic supports like parental leave and sick pay. Low-income workers typically also have less flexibility and choice than other parents (for example, they must rely on public transportation and do not have access to work-from-home options)
• Low-income fathers and paternal family members may be at risk of reduced family involvement due to negative perceptions they may have regarding their value and ability to fill the role of father as economic provider. It's important to note that the relationship between poverty and father involvement is complicated, as structural violence and other systemic barriers also play a role. Recent research also indicates that, despite racist and classist stereotypes about "deadbeat dads," the majority of low-income fathers are involved with their children once the definition of fatherhood is expanded beyond financial contributor

Spotlight on low-income parenting

• Parenting on a low income [2012] This report from About Families looks at the impact of low income on parenting. more... less... https://web.archive.org/web/20180412174026/https://aboutfamilies.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/about-families-report-parenting-on-a-low-income.pdf
• The relationship between poverty and parenting [2007] Summary and link to a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an organization working to solve UK poverty.
• Your helicopter parenting means you’re privileged [2018] This Maclean's article discusses heliciopter parenting and how it is not an option for many low-income families in Canada.
• Vast majority of impoverished fathers involved with their children [2016] Brief summary of a research study that found, despite stereotypes, many low-income fathers are involved in the lives of their children

Links and resources

• Inter-parental relationships, conflict, and the impacts of poverty [2017]
• Full house? How overcrowded housing affects families [2005]

• << Previous: Effects of poverty on children
• Next: Child welfare and poverty >>
• Last Updated: Sep 22, 2022 10:32 AM
• URL: https://oacas.libguides.com/poverty

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Where Should a Poor Family Live?

By Thomas B. Edsall

• Aug. 5, 2015

If its goal is to move up the ladder, where should a poor family live? Should federal dollars go toward affordable housing within high-poverty neighborhoods, or should subsidies be used to move residents of impoverished communities into more upscale – and more resistant — sections of cities and suburbs with better schools and job opportunities?

Three developments this year – an academic study, a Supreme Court decision and a tough new Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation – have challenged existing policies that place the bulk of low-income housing in the most deprived neighborhoods.

The dominant force behind existing policies is what critics call the “poverty housing industry,” a de facto alliance of multimillion-dollar nonprofit housing companies, city politicians, state and local housing authorities and grass-roots organizations based in distressed urban communities.

This alliance justifies the placement of affordable housing in the poorest sectors by arguing that it will encourage neighborhood revitalization and economic growth. In addition to these claims of renewal, there are significant advantages for developers in building on sites in the most destitute areas. In contrast to residents of upscale communities, those in poor neighborhoods are unlikely to object to low-income housing; local activist groups are desperate for money and will gratefully back developers who award them grants; and local politicians welcome the opportunity to claim credit for new construction projects.

Now, the poverty housing industry has been thrown on the defensive by charges that — whatever its intentions — current location selection practices further promote the isolation of the poor, leaving hundreds of thousands of children in communities with high crime, low-performing schools and single-parent families. Instead of revitalization, according to this argument, putting affordable housing into already distressed areas serves only to further concentrate disadvantage.

This concentration, in turn, has significant negative consequences.

“A growing body of research over the last several decades suggests that stress and exposure to violence in high-poverty neighborhoods can affect children’s cognitive development, school performance, mental health and long-term physical health,” argue Barbara Sard of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Philip Tegeler, director of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, in a report published by Furman Center of New York University, “ Children and Housing Vouchers .”

For some nonprofit companies, low-income housing is big business. Two of the biggest tax-exempt housing companies are Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Enterprise Community Partners / Enterprise Community Investment .

Since 1980, LISC has invested a total of $14.7 billion nationwide in 330,000 affordable-housing units and 53 million square feet of retail and community space. Michael Rubinger, president and C.E.O. of LISC, had a 2013 compensation package of $485,727 , the most recent year for which figures are available, and 15 other LISC executives received in excess of $200,000 that year.

Enterprise Community Partners, also a tax-exempt nonprofit, invested $2.7 billion across the country to create or renovate more than 16,400 affordable homes in 2014. Charles Werhane, president and C.E.O. of Enterprise Community Investment, received total compensation in 2013 of $937,859 , while 28 other executives received between $200,000 and $544,220.

Enterprise declares that its goal is

to end housing insecurity in the United States within a generation. That means no more homelessness. No more low-income families spending half of their income on housing. No more families living disconnected from opportunity.

LISC, in turn, says , “We help create good places to live, work, do business and raise children.”

Betsy Julian, president of the Dallas-based Inclusive Communities Project, said in an interview that low-income housing developers “make a lot of money, and it needs to be understood that they are really set up on the assumption that we have segregated housing and you have to work with the segregated status quo.” The resulting practices, she said, are “doing serious harm to children.”

Similarly, Myron Orfield, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and a leading expert on affordable housing, argues that the “poverty housing industry” has “worked with local, regional and state government to preserve the segregated status quo.” In the case of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orfield writes , the poverty housing industry has “sabotaged the nation’s most effective regional-housing integration program.” In a phone interview, Orfield pointed out that policies placing the poor in already dilapidated districts relegated families to environments where there “is no private market” and to regions that are “entirely supported by government.” This spatial isolation from business and from the mainstream activities of American commerce, Orfield argues, effectively locks residents into a life of failure and dependence.

In a phone interview, Rubinger, of LISC, defended his company’s practices. “We are not at all in any way opposed to people moving into areas of opportunity” he said, but added that this practice, in his view, ensured that “the least skilled and least educated are left behind. We need to pay attention to them.”

LISC not only finances housing, Rubinger said, “but we are also investing in education, safety and the arts, all of the things that make healthy, sustainable communities.” Nonprofits like LISC have been crucial to the revival of New York City, Rubinger argues, because they were the only groups willing to put money into housing back in the 1970s, when New York was on the ropes.

Ali Solis, a spokeswoman for Enterprise, wrote in an email:

Enterprise strongly supports investing in both “high opportunity” and distressed communities that are undertaking comprehensive revitalization.

She argues that “creating and preserving affordable housing and building opportunity for residents should not require investing in one kind of community over another.”

A series of recent analyses demonstrate the scope of the concentration of federally subsidized affordable housing in high-poverty neighborhoods, including housing financed through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit , the largest source of money for such projects.

Connecticut provides a specific example. This chart and map produced by the Open Communities Alliance shows that almost all affordable housing financed with low-income housing tax credits is located in impoverished or derelict census tracts, shown as black dots in the un-colored areas.

A national study released in April, Low Income Housing Policy , by Robert Collinson and Ingrid Gould Ellen, both at N.Y.U.’s Wagner School of Public Service, and Jens Ludwig, professor of public policy at the University of Chicago, found that tenants in housing financed through the LIHTC

on average live in neighborhoods that have nearly identical poverty rates, slightly higher minority concentrations and higher average crime rates as those lived in by poor households as a whole.

In other words, most low-income tax credit housing is located in the same neighborhoods where most poor people already live.

An earlier report by the Poverty & Race Research Council found that in 40 of the largest metropolitan areas, half of LIHTC units big enough for families (two or more bedrooms) were located near schools ranked in the bottom quartile of performance in the state. Those with the lowest rankings included Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Boston and Cleveland.

The 2015 session of the Connecticut State Legislature provides a case study in the conflicting agendas of the nonprofit housing industry and of proponents of building more housing in upscale “opportunity” neighborhoods.

State Representatives Jason Rojas and Minnie Gonzalez, of East Hartford and Hartford respectively, introduced legislation to require 75 percent of all new affordable housing to be located in affluent, largely white, communities.

Their goal was to reverse the pattern in Connecticut of confining federally subsidized low-income housing to the poorest neighborhoods. According to the Connecticut Open Communities Alliance, three-quarters of housing financed through the low-income tax credit goes into the 6 percent of Connecticut’s land area dominated by minority populations; 40 percent goes into “racially concentrated areas of poverty” with minority populations in excess of 50 percent and poverty rates three times the regional average.

Under normal circumstances, this kind of legislation could be expected to draw opposition from members representing upscale white suburbanites. Instead, the most intense resistance emerged from another quarter altogether: the nonprofit low-income housing industry.

In written testimony to the Legislature’s Housing Committee, Andrea Pereira, executive director of the Hartford & Connecticut Statewide LISC, called on the General Assembly Housing Committee “not to approve HB 6640.” Her argument:

While Connecticut’s cities have numerous challenges, many residents still affirmatively choose to live in cities for a variety of reasons. These communities have strong traditions and history. They offer residents the opportunity to stay connected to their cultural, faith and family networks. Our urban communities have diversity that includes multiple languages, cultures and lifestyles. The cities also offer public infrastructure of transportation, open space, libraries and educational institutions that residents can access at relatively affordable costs. With all of these benefits, it is important that we continue to invest in our cities to make them vibrant, sustainable communities.

The bill died.

The conflict between the Connecticut LISC and Gonzalez and Rojas reflects, in turn, a larger, heated, conflict within the affordable-housing community. It pits those seeking integration of poor minorities into more affluent neighborhoods and schools against those arguing that direct investment in poor neighborhoods is an effective tool to improve the life chances of those living in high-poverty areas.

The three recent developments cited above that have forced the conflict over where to situate affordable housing in the public arena are:

First, the publication in May of “ The Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods on Children: New Evidence from the Moving to Opportunity Experiment ” – a study by the Harvard economists Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren and Lawrence Katz – presenting data demonstrating that children under the age of 13 experience benefits after moving from high- to low-poverty neighborhoods.

Second, the June 25 Supreme Court ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. that housing discrimination need not be intentional to be illegal.

Third, the July 8 Department of Housing and Urban Development announcement of a new regulation, “ Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing ,” that requires city and county officials to show how they will use federal housing money to actively reduce racial and ethnic segregation, or face the loss of such grants.

The Supreme Court case initiated by Inclusive Communities of Texas was opposed, however, in an amicus brief by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, the National Affordable Housing Management Association and the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing.

In their brief, these housing groups described themselves as “at the forefront of the nation’s ongoing effort to prevent housing discrimination.”

These organizations argue against “disparate impact” on the grounds that such reasoning could then be applied to routine housing processes such as “tenant screening, credit scoring, maintenance of waiting lists, and security procedures” which, though “neutral on their face,” have “a harsher impact on protected classes than on others. This is almost inevitable given the wide economic and demographic variations in the nation’s population.”

Similarly, in a September 2013 comment on the proposed new H.U.D. regulation, LISC, Enterprise and the National Housing Trust initially endorsed the “goal of ensuring access to decent, affordable housing in strong and healthy communities for all Americans,” but noted that

preservation of existing affordable housing and reinvestment in distressed or gentrifying neighborhoods must be considered as valid strategies equal to mobility and moving to high opportunity areas.

In other words, LISC, Enterprise and the Housing Trust wanted to be sure that H.U.D. would continue to support and finance affordable housing in high-poverty neighborhoods.

The study of the beneficial effects of low-poverty neighborhoods on children, the Supreme Court case and the H.U.D. regulation have together greatly strengthened the hand of those seeking to use housing policy to break up poverty-stricken, segregated neighborhoods.

What remains to be seen is how much this power shift will actually result in the diffusion of poor families and subsidized housing into more upscale communities.

If the integrationist wing of the affordable housing sector now armed with a Supreme Court ruling and a tough H.U.D. regulation is successful, the next test will be political: how much backlash will there be, and will that backlash prompt Congress to react?

While there is no way to predict the outcome, the flood of comments to H.U.D . protesting the new regulation – “Social engineering by government knows no end. It hasn’t worked in the past, so what will work this time? Nothing. Crips, Bloods & the Latin Kings will move into the suburbs. Changing one’s ZIP code cannot change the years of mind-set poverty brings with it” – suggests that the potential for backlash should not be underestimated.

It has been almost a half century since the Fair Housing Act was made law in 1968. There is little agreement on how much racial integration has been achieved.

William Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer, contends that

the broader migration patterns of blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are moving in the direction of greater neighborhood racial integration, even if segregation is far from being eliminated.

Daniel T. Lichter, director of the Cornell Population Center, and two colleagues, on the other hand, make the case in an article published earlier this year, “ Toward a New Macro Segregation? ” that segregation is worsening. In an email to me, Lichter elaborated:

We show increasing segregation between places: city-to-suburb segregation and suburb to suburb. Places, rather than neighborhoods, are administrative actors that often act to include or exclude low income populations through their local policies, e.g., accepting or not of mixed-income housing or the imposition of density zoning. Ferguson, Missouri is illustrative of the new place-based segregation, where some communities are becoming more diverse (or black, Asian, or Hispanic), in part because whites are moving farther out into white suburbs or moving back to the city.

The larger issue, then, is the political and economic feasibility of the full integration of poor people, and especially poor minorities, into well-off, largely white neighborhoods. The track record since the passage of the Fair Housing Act 47 years ago provides few grounds for optimism.

An earlier version of this article misstated the given name of the president of the Inclusive Communities Project; she is Betsy, not Becky, Julian.

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Essay on Poverty for Children and Students

Table of Contents

Essay on Poverty: Poverty is defined as the financial condition of a person, insufficient to sustain the vital needs of his/her own family. Any person of family which is unable to provide a square meal to the members or educate its children for the want of money is termed as poor and suffering from poverty. It is curse to the society and restricts the economical and social growth of a nation. Poverty eradication in a highly populous country as India could be a herculean task; though, it could be achieved through will power of the government and society. In the world scenario, poverty is great concern in the developing, under developed and the third world nations. Poverty also results in several diseases, law and order situations and very low standard of living.

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Long and Short Essay on Poverty in English

We have provided below various essay on poverty in order to help students.

Now-a-days, essays or paragraphs writing are common strategy followed by the teachers in the schools and colleges in order to enhance the skill and knowledge of students about any topic.

All the poverty essay are written using very simple words under various words limit according to the need and requirement of students.

They can select any of the essays given below according to their need and requirement in the class, any competition or exam.

Poverty Essay 1 (100 words)

Poverty is the state for any person of being extremely poor. It is the extreme situation when a person feels lack of essential items required to continue the life such as shelter, adequate food, clothing, medicines, etc. Some of the common reasons of poverty are like overpopulation, lethal and epidemic diseases, natural disasters, low agricultural output, lack of employment, casteism in country, illiteracy, gender inequality, environmental problems, changing trends of economy in the country, lack of proper education, untouchability, limited or inadequate access of people to their rights, political violence, organized crime, corruption, lack of motivation, idleness, old social beliefs, etc. Poverty in India can be reduced by following effective solutions however needs individual efforts of all the citizens.

Poverty Essay 2 (150 words)

We can define poverty as the lack of food, proper shelter, clothing, medicines, education, and equal human rights. Poverty forces a person to remain hungry, without shelter, without clothes, education and proper rights. There are various causes of poverty in the country however solutions too but because of the lack of proper unity among Indian citizens to follow solutions, poverty is increasing badly day by day. Spread of epidemic diseases in any country is the reason of poverty as poor people cannot take care of their health and hygienic condition.

Poverty makes people unable to go to doctor, to go to school, how to read, to speak properly, to eat three times meal, to wear needed clothes, to purchase own house, to get paid properly for job, etc. Poverty forces a person to go towards illness as they drink unclean water, lives at dirty places, and eat improper meal. Poverty causes powerlessness and lack of freedom.

Poverty Essay 3 (200 words)

Poverty is just like a condition of slave when a person becomes unable to do anything according to his/her wish. It has many faces which changes according to the person, place and time. It can be described in many ways a person feel it or live it. Poverty is a situation which no one wants to live however has to carry it by custom, nature, natural disaster, or lack of proper education. The person lives it, generally wants to escape. Poverty is a call to action to the poor people to earn enough money to eat, have access to education, get adequate shelter, wear needed clothes, and protection from the social and political violence.

It is an invisible problem which affects a person and his/her social life very badly in many ways. Poverty is completely preventable problem however there are many reasons which carry and continue it from the past time. Poverty keeps a person lack of freedom, mental well-being, physical well-being, and security. It is very necessary for everyone to work jointly in order to remove poverty from the country and world to bring proper physical health, mental health, complete literacy, home for everyone, and other needed things to live a simple life.

Poverty Essay 4 (250 words)

Poverty is a human condition which brings despair, grief and pain in the human life. Poverty is the lack of money and all the things required to live a life in proper manner. Poverty makes a child unable to enter to the school in childhood and lives his/her childhood in an unhappy family. Poverty is the lack of few rupees to arrange bread and butter of two times daily, buy text books for kids, grief of parents responsible for the care of children, etc. We can define poverty in many ways. It is very common to see poverty in India because most people here cannot fulfill their basic necessities of the life. A huge percentage of population here is uneducated, hungry and without home and clothe. It is the main reason of the poor Indian economy. Because of the poverty, around half population in India is living a miserable life.

Poverty creates a situation in which people fail to get sufficient income so they cannot purchase necessary things. A poor man lives his/her life without any command over basic needs such as two times food, clean drinking water, clothing, house, proper education, etc. People who fail to maintain the minimum standard of living such as consumption and nutrition required for existence. There are various reasons of poverty in India however mal distribution of national income is also a reason. Low income group people are relatively poorer than the high income group. Children of the poor family never get chance of proper schooling, proper nutrition and happy childhood. The most important reasons of the poverty are illiteracy, corruption, growing population, poor agriculture, gap between poor and rich, etc.

Poverty Essay 5 (300 words)

Poverty represents poor quality of life, illiteracy, malnutrition, lack of basic needs, low human resource development, etc. It is a biggest challenge to the developing country especially in India. It is a phenomenon in which a section of people in the society cannot fulfill their basic necessities of life. It has seen some decline in the poverty level in the last five years (26.1% in 1999-2000 from 35.97% in 1993-94). It has also declined at state level such as in Orissa it has been declined to 47.15% from 48.56%, in Madhya Pradesh 37.43% from 43.52%, in UP 31.15% from 40.85%, and in West Bengal 27.02% from 35.66%. Instead of some decline in the poverty in India it is not the matter of happiness because the Indian BPL is still very large number (26 crore).

Poverty in India can be eradicated by the use of some effective programmes, however need a joint effort by everyone not by the government only. Government of India should make some effective strategies aiming to develop poor social sector through key components like primary education, population control, family welfare, job creation, etc especially in the rural areas.

What are Effects of Poverty

Some of the effects of poverty are like:

• Illiteracy: poverty makes people unable to get proper education because of the lack of money.
• Nutrition and diet: poverty causes insufficient availability of diet and inadequate nutrition which brings lots of lethal diseases and deficiency diseases.
• Child labor: it gives rise to the huge level illiteracy as the future of the country gets involved in the child labor at very low cost in their early age.
• Unemployment: unemployment causes poverty as it creates the lack of money which affects people’s daily life. It forces people to live unfulfilled life against their will.
• Social tensions: it creates social tension due to the income disparity between rich and poor.
• Housing problems: it creates the bad condition for people to live without home on the footpath, roadside, other open places, many members in one room, etc.
• Diseases: it gives rise to the various epidemic diseases as people with lack of money cannot maintain proper hygiene and sanitation. Also they cannot afford a doctor for the proper treatment of any disease.
• Feminization of poverty: poverty affects women’s life to a great extent because of the gender-inequality and keeps them deprived of the proper-diet, nutrition, medicines and treatment facility.

Poverty Essay 6 (400 words)

Introduction

Poverty is a situation in which people remain deprived of basic necessities of life such as inadequacy of food, clothes, and shelter. Most of the people in India cannot get their two times meal properly, sleep at roadside and wear dirty and old clothes. They do not get proper and healthy nutrition, medicines, and other necessary things. Poverty in the urban India is increasing because of the increase in urban population as people from rural areas like to migrate to the cities and towns to get employment or do some financial activity. The income of around 8 crore urban people is below poverty line and 4.5 crore urban people is on borderline of poverty level. A huge number of people live in slum become illiterate. In spite of some initiatives there is no any satisfactory results shown regarding reduction of poverty.

Causes of Poverty

The main causes of poverty in India are growing population, poor agriculture, corruption, old customs, huge gap between poor and rich people, unemployment, illiteracy, epidemic diseases, etc. A huge percentage of people in India depend on agriculture which is poor and cause poverty. Generally people face shortage of food because of poor agriculture and unemployment. Ever growing population is also the reason of poverty in India. More population means more food, money and houses. In the lack of basic facilities, poverty grows more rapidly. Becoming extra rich and extra poor creates a huge widening gap between the rich and the poor people. Rich people are growing richer and poor people are growing poorer which creates an economic gap between the two.

Effects of Poverty

Poverty affects people’s life in many ways. There are various effects of poverty such as illiteracy, poor diet and nutrition, child labor, poor housing, poor life style, unemployment, poor hygiene, feminization of poverty, etc. Poor people cannot arrange a healthy diet, maintain good life style, home, nice clothes, proper education, etc because of the lack of money which creates a huge difference between rich and poor. This difference leads to the undeveloped country. Poverty forces small children to do work at low cost and help their family financially instead of going to the school.

Solutions to Eradicate Poverty

It is very necessary to solve the problem of poverty on urgent basis for the goodness of humanity on this planet. Some of the solutions that can play great role in solving the problem of poverty are:

• Farmers should get proper and required facilities for good agriculture as well as to make it profitable.
• Adult people who are illiterate should be given required training for the betterment of life.
• Family planning should be followed by the people in order to check the ever-rising population and thus poverty.
• Corruption should be ended all over the world to reduce the poverty.
• Each and every child should go to the school and take proper education.
• There should be ways of employment where people of all categories can work together.

Poverty is not only the problem of a person however it is a national problem. It must be solved on urgent basis by implementing some effective solutions. Variety of steps has been taken by the government to reduce poverty however no clear results are seen. Eradication of poverty is necessary for the sustainable and inclusive growth of people, economy, society and country. Eradication of poverty can be done effectively by the unite effort of each and every person.

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Essay on My Family

List of essays on my family, essay on my family – short essay for kids in english (essay 1 – 250 words), essay on my family – for children (essay 2 – 300 words), essay on my family – paragraph (essay 3 – 400 words), essay on my family –topics (essay 4 – 500 words), essay on my family (essay 5 – 500 words), essay on my family – why i love my family (essay 6 – 500 words), essay on my family – for school students (class 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 standard) (essay 7 – 500 words), essay on my family (essay 8 – 750 words), essay on my family – long essay (essay 9 – 1000 words).

A family is one of the greatest gift god has given to all living creatures on the earth including humans. It is a privilege to have a happy family as not everyone in the world has it.

The joy of living with your parents, fighting with your siblings over petty can just make you smile the moment you think of it. In order to inculcate the values of a family in the students, we have composed some short essays for students.

These essays are suited for students of all ages and classes. Not only these essays shall give an insight on how a family should be but shall also enrich the students with the moral values of a family.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for kids, children and school students.

Family is important to every one of us and we all love our family. Wherever we go in this world and whatever we may achieve, our heart and soul will always be in our home because it is where our beautiful family is. Nothing in this world can be stronger than the bonding of the blood . The members of the same family may have differences of opinions, may quarrel often for silly things but in spite of all these it is our family that supports us during our ups and downs.

As the saying goes, “ Family is the best thing you could ever wish for. They are there for you during the ups and downs and love you no matter what”.

Contrary to this saying, we cannot choose our family as we choose our friends. But I can say that I’m blessed with a wonderful family. My family is very small with four members – my mother, my father, my elder sister and me. My family is a middle class family and my father is officially the bread winner of our family. My mother supports him financially by taking tuitions for school children.

We do not have much money or wealth but what my family has in abundance is love for each other which cannot be replaced by anything else in this world. My father and my mother are the role models to my sister and me. They struggle a lot to give us a better life. More than anything they have taught us discipline and morals of life which is helping us to lead our lives in a righteous path even today.

I cannot ask anything more to God since he has already showered me with my family which I treasure the most every second and will safeguard even in the future.

The family is a valuable god gift which plays a most crucial role in every individual’s life. I love my family very much because all of my family members stand in my good as well as bad times. From moral teachings to love and support, my family has always helped me without any demand. There is no doubt that we experience our biggest triumphs when we really connect to them.

My family is like a strong pillar for me, on which I can rely blindly anytime I require support. From my family, I have learned the social graces of loyalty & cooperation.

My family consists of my grandfather, my grandmother, my mother, my father, two young sisters and myself. My grandparents are the pillars of my family and my grandfather is the head of my family. He is the one whose decision relating to any matter is final and all of us do respect it.

Right from my childhood, my family members have prepared me for the challenges that I’ll face in the years ahead. In addition to this, all of my family members help and serve each other at times of need. These qualities that I have learnt from my family has helped me to shape my adult life in a right manner.

I am really very attached to my grandfather. He holds an excellent life experience because he has already faced so many ups and downs. My Grandfather has helped me to build my perception & vision towards society.

My family has always been there to motivate and encourage me to overcome all difficulties in life and achieve success. The role of every member in my family is unique and important in their own way. I thank God that I have grown up in a family full of love and discipline. My family values will definitely help me in becoming a better person.

A person without family and its love never becomes completely happy in his/her life. I am complete and happy with my family that includes five members. My family is a group of five including me, father, mother, brother, and sister. Family bonding is a unique type of love that gives you every lesson needed to live a harmonious life.

Growing under the supervision of a caring and loving family will increase our social values and overall well-being. Each member of my family carries out equal responsibility in sculpting the strong bonding needed for a better future and develop moral importance in each other.

My father owns a successful business of office stationery store. He uses the money to cover all our expenses and give a better lifestyle to the family. He works hard day and night to get us better education, food, home, etc. He hides all his tiredness when he comes home after a long day to spend quality time with us.

My mother is a talented homemaker who also does a part-time tailoring at home. She does all her duties with at most interest, from taking care of us to all the household chores and finds time to pursue her passion as well. She is a multi-tasker and does all the tasks from helping us in our studies to preparing delicious healthy foods to sculpt us into a better human being.

My brother is an engineering graduate and does a job in a well-known company. He is my best well-wisher and helps me in all ups and downs. My sister is also an engineering graduate and an employee in an IT company. She always finds time to help me with all my difficulties and she is my secret keeper too.

My family is a lifeline to whom I can run to, whatever may be the situation I am facing. My family guides me to be a good person and help me in nurturing good values. We, humans, are animals that live together spreading love and care for each other, and this togetherness is called family. The absence of such a divine bonding make us equal to animals.

Family value and growing in such a caring surrounding helps me to pass all the struggles and hardships that I face in my daily life. Whatever be the situation we are facing, our family will never leave us alone. My family is a blessing for me and I value everyone in my family with equal respect and love.

Most of the people in the world are blessed with having a family. A family, with whom you can share all your joys and sorrows, who is there to guide you through your growing years, who stands by you in the toughest of the situations. I too am blessed to have such a family.

My family is one the most bizarre family in the world. We are four people, my mother, my father, my younger brother and me. While my father is the one who does work for a living, it is my mother who is the boss of the house. My father is a humble person. He is an officer in a government department. My mother is a housewife. It is our mother who takes care of our studies as our father is often busy with his official assignments and even travels for days together. We just miss him when he is not at home.

He never scolds us. But, our mother is just the opposite. She wants us to remain disciplined and we often get scolded by her. However, our father comes to our rescue most of the times. My brother, still in school is the one with whom I love to spend my time the most. Not because I love to play with him, but because, being the elder sister, I enjoy instructing him and showing him who is more powerful at home. He, at a time, seems so helpless when our mother says to obey his sister. I just love that moment. But not all days are the same. I hate having to study all along while he gets to play more than me.

The Atmosphere in my Family:

We largely have a peaceful atmosphere at home. After school, our time is spent on studying, playing and watching television, which of course our mother does not like. Unlike other couples, my mother and father seldom have a fight. In fact, as soon we see an argument brewing up, one of them just withdraws and it is just rare to see a heated conversation between them. This is what I like the most about them as I feel that my parents are so cool. It is only me and brother who love to fight with each other.

However, we know that behind those fights, it is actually our love for each other which binds us together. I just enjoy being at home spending time with my parents and my brother. I just feel how bad it would be when tomorrow I and my brother shall move on for our professional lives and we shall not be able to spend much time together. However, it is the memories of today which shall be with me forever and will bring a smile on my face anytime when I feel low.

The Importance of a Family:

A family is said to be the first school of a child. It is from here you start to learn how to speak, walk and interact with the world. It is important to value the importance of a family in one’s life. At times, people feel that they are grown-ups and that their parent’s advice does not matter anymore, but that is not true. It is the elders of the family who at any given of time would know the world better than us and we should all respect our family members and love our siblings as well. It is the family who builds our character and we should feel fortunate to have a family around us.

Introduction

My family values are what I take so dear to my heart because they have made me what I am today and I plan on passing these great values to my children in future. Every family has those things, acts and values that they hold in high esteem and they cherish so much. These vales have become a part of them: most times, it is what distinguishes the traits in each family and in some ways it makes or mars the future of the family members. Same applies to my family, we have some set values that has become a part of us and it has made my life a lot better because I have become a better person who is not only valuable to himself but also to the society at large. I will be sharing some of these values with you.

My Family Values:

Some of my family values include:

1. Honesty:

This is a principle that is highly protected in my family. My dad has this saying that, “honesty is the best policy.” Ever since I was little, my family has taught me how to be honest and the benefits that lie within. Sometimes, my parents even test us in ways we were not expecting and a reward is given to the person that comes out honest. This is one of my family values that I cherish so much and I am proud that it is what my family hold in high esteem.

2. Kindness to Others:

This is not a common trait to all. My mom has this belief that if the world and everybody in it shows love and kindness to one another, there will be no hatred and wars will be eradicated. This is a family value that we cherish so much. I learnt to show love to everybody. Even when we did not have much, my parents will still give to those who are needy. My dad says that the world is like a river, we would eventually flow into one another later and you do not know the future, the person you helped today might eventually be of help to you tomorrow.

3. Education:

This is a value that has been passed from generation to generation in my family. My dad would say that education is the best legacy you can give to a child. My family does everything in their capacity for you to get a sound and benefitting education. The acquisition of knowledge is also quite important. All of us try to gain more and more knowledge because we all have a family slogan that says “knowledge is power and that power makes me a hero.”

4. Dress and Appearance:

This is a religious value we cherish in my family. My dad would say that you are addressed the way you dress. I do not want to be address wrongly and give out a wrong impression. So, our appearance really matter a lot to us and the way we dress.

Conclusion:

Every family has one thing or the other that they hold in high esteem and tend to pass on from generation to generation. This is what makes a family a united sect not because we are related by blood but because of we share the same values.

Introduction:

Why I love my family is a question that has been floating through my mind for a very long time because no matter how hard I try to pin out a reason why I love them, I just can’t find one. This can be due to fact that they mean the whole world to me and I will do anything for them. I love my family a lot and I would like to share some of the reasons why I love my family and will never trade them for anything.

Why I Love My Family:

I have a family that consists of 6 people: my father, my mother and four children which includes me. For you to understand why I love my family I will tell you a little about each of them and why I love them so much.

My father is the best father in the world: well, that’s what I say. He is a business manager. I look up to my father a lot because I will like to take a lot of his behaviours and make it mine. He taught me to be contented with whatever I have. We did not have much when I was growing up; my dad lost his job and still did not allow anything of the pressure change how he behaved to us at home. He is caring, gentle, accommodating and disciplined.

My mum is the best cook in the world. I do not know where I would be today without my mum. I owe her a lot. She is a teacher by profession and this fascinates me a lot because not only is she inculcating knowledge in the young minds of tomorrow, she is also building the future of our society at large. I want to be like my mum. I remember those times when she had to sacrifice when the most precious of her things just to make me happy. She is loving, caring, understanding, accommodating. In fact, she is everything you can ever wish for in a mother.

My elder sisters are the best. Although they can be frustrating sometimes but that is mostly because of my stubbornness. They pretend they do not really care but deep inside they do. The things they do even subconsciously say otherwise. I remember a day in elementary school, I was being bullied a boy in class. On this particular day, he hit me. Unknowing to me, my sister heard about it and she beat the boy and made him apologise to me, I felt so happy that day because I had someone who had my back.

My brother is one of the best gifts I have received. He is the last child and this gives him an opportunity to be annoying if you know what I mean. He is joyful and always ready to heed correction. There was this day, I heard him bragging to his friends about how awesome I am, and I was the happiest that day.

We all have one reason or the other on why we love our family. I love mine because they are the best gift I could ever ask for and the fact that they have been there for me through the good, bad and funny times.

Importance of family is something that is greatly overlooked and underrated in the world we live in today. The definition that the family had about one hundred years before now was very clear. Back then, a family was believed to be a unit that consisted of the father that was in charge of the finances of the family, a mother whose primary duty was to look after the home and take care of the children and then there were the children. Largely based on the region you are from, a family can also include members of the extended family like aunts, uncles and grandparents. This type of family system is referred to as joint family.

Family Importance:

A family that is important is one that is very strong. If a family is going to be very strong, there is a need for the bond between them to be very strong. Bonds that help in keeping the members of a family with each other are relationships. If there are very strong relationships among all the members of a family, there is going to be stronger commitment between all of them and the family as a unit will be very important.

Better communication is also a result of family relationships that are very strong. If all the family members can take time out to talk and know each other well, the bond between them is bound to be very strong. Even if the conversations are about big things or small things, it does not really matter. The most important thing is that all family members stay connected to one another. It is very important that they all list to each other and understand every member.

How to make Family Bonds Very Strong:

We have various things that can help our family bond to improve.

A few of them include:

1. Love: love is the most important thing we need for our bonds as a family to improve. When we love the members in our family, we will also be able to know all about privacy, intimacy, caring, belonging and sharing. When there is love in a family, the family will prosper.

2. Loyalty: loyalty is something that comes as a result of love. Family members should stay devoted to each other. It is important that we are able to count on our family to have our back anytime we are facing problems.

The importance of family can never be overstated even though we live in a different time now and our attitudes to relationships, marriage and what a family should be has changed. The family is something that we need to help share our problems and be there for us anytime we have issues. A lot of the things that were not acceptable in the past and we now see as normal. Even with all the changes that the society has effected on our family system, the family still remains the major foundation of our society and this will remain the same.

My family is the best gift I have got. A family can be simply said to mean a social group of different people in our society that includes one or more parents and also their children. In a family, every member of the family commits to other members of the family in a mutual relationship. A family is a very important unit and the smallest unit in the society. A family whether a big one or a small one is of very great importance and use to all of its members and is believed to be the unit of our society that is strongest because the society is formed from the coming together and culmination of various families.

In many cultures, the family serves a child’s first school where the child learns all about their traditions and cultures more importantly learn about all the rudimentary values in life. A family is very essential in the teaching of healthy habits and good manners to all the members of the family. It gives the members of the family the opportunity to become people with better character in our society. I feel very lucky to be born into a small and lovely family; I learnt a lot of things from my family.

I am from a middle class and average family with six members (my father, my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather, my younger brother and me). My grandfather is the head of the family and we all respect and listen to him. He is really wise and tries to advise each and every one of us using his many life experiences. He has been involved in many interesting and adventurous activities that he tells me about all the time. Most of the time, he has the final say on all of our family issues and he does his best to make all his decisions impartial.

Any time we are eating today as a family, he sits at the top of the table; we all have designated seats at the dining table. When my brother and I are available, my grandfather teaches us about our traditions and cultures. My grandfather is very friendly and has a cool and great personality and tries to talk nicely and calmly to everyone passing across his message without being rude. He helps my brother and sometimes me with our assignments. He majorly teaches us about all of the tools we need to be successful in life including punctuality, discipline, moral, cleanliness, continuity, honesty, hard work and trustworthiness.

My lovely grandmother is one of the nicest people I know, she tells my brother and I lovely stories every night. My father is a civil engineer and he is very hardworking, sincere and punctual. He is the breadwinner of the family and does his best to provide for every member of the family even if that means he has to work extra hours. My mother is very sweet and takes care of every member of the family even though she works as an accountant at a firm. She wakes up very early in the morning to make preparations for the day. My brother is a funny and jovial person that enjoys sporting activities and I love him so much.

Sometimes I wish my cousins, uncles and aunts lived with us, I love having them around. There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages of having everyone around. I have highlighted some below.

Some advantages are:

1. It gives a better routine of living that can contribute to a proper growth.

2. Having a joint family helps in following the numerous principles of an equitable economy and helps teach discipline and respect. It also teaches us how to share the burden of other family members.

3. There is the understanding of having to adjust to the needs of other family members.

4. The children in a large family get to grow up in a happy environment because they have children of their age around that they can play with.

5. All the members of a joint family are usually very disciplined and responsible as everyone has to follow the instructions of the family head.

Some of the disadvantages include:

1. There is always the chance of a rift or fight between the family members because of the possible imbalance of feelings of oneness, brotherly love and feeling of generosity.

2. There is a chance of the members of the family that earn very high looking down on members of the family that do not.

The concept of family is important in India for every individual. Family defines an individual background in terms of social relations and growth. Families influence the lives of individuals from childhood to adulthood especially in decisions concerning life milestones like marriage and career paths. Indian families live together for up to four generations under one roof and they manage to maintain lose family relations compared to other families across the globe. Indian families tend to stick to their cultural practices as a family and they maintain religious practices that cut across the family. Elders in Indian families are respected by the members of the family and their opinions are considered during decision making.

What Family Really Means :

Basic knowledge defines a family as a group of people who share genetic and legal bonds. However, the concept of family means a lot more for other people than just the bond and it incorporates the concepts of culture and religion. In India, the concept of family differs from what the rest of the world perceives as family.

Families in India go beyond nuclear and extend to wider circles, whereby the extended family lives together and are closely related. The relationships in the family are strong such that cousins are considered siblings and aunts and uncles are considered parents. Family also means the unconditional love among the members of the family whereby there is support in terms of finances and emotions.

Why the Family is so important:

The family plays a central role in lives of individuals in teaching of moral values. Parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents have been known to teach the children on morality and disciplinary issue s in most cultures. Both spiritual and moral values are instilled through family. Family give a sense of belonging to individuals because they are over by the family and supported at all times.

A family will always support its members with needs including financial and emotional needs. In a family, there has been established levels of satisfaction and happiness from the joy of being together. Families also helping community development through contributions and participating in activities in the community. The family is important in the society in maintaining order, discipline and peace.

I come from a big family. My family has not moved to an urban area and so we still live as a wider circle together with the extended family. In my nuclear family, I am the first born of four children. I have one sister and two brothers who are still at school. I have three aunts and two uncles. My cousins are twelve in number and most of them are at school except for the youngest ones.

My grandparents are very old and they do not get out of the house much and are being taken care by my parents and aunts. Most of the children are always at school and the house gets quiet but during holiday, we all unite together as a full house. My family is of the middle class in terms of wealth. Our religion is Hindu and we all practice the Indian cultures and traditions. What I love about my family is that everyone is a good cook and the food is always amazing. Members of my family are kind and respectful and that is why we rarely have disputes. The family support is strong and we all love each other.

Why I love My Family:

Having a big family is interesting because the house always feels warm. As I had earlier mentioned, my family is made of good cooks, which makes me love them. There is always teamwork within the family and good relationships are maintained. I like the adventurous nature of my family because we always have fun whenever we go for holiday vacations or have a family event.

Moral cultural and spiritual values are highly cared for in the society. My family is oriented in good moral values and believe we make a good role model for the society. Despite the influence of education, the family has been able to maintain the culture and traditions of Indian people. The love that exists in my family is precious and that is the most important value of all times because what family without love?

Our Weekend Outings and House Parties:

We do not have many of these in our family because of the different schedules among the members. We only have weekend outings and house parties during holidays. Birthday parties are and weddings are the parties that we frequently have as a family. I love parties at home because the food is usually exceptionally good. Also, the dancing and happy faces. Weekend outings are usually in form of picnics and they are usually full of games.

Cousins Visit during Summer:

My family is young and only three of my cousins are in college. The rest are in high school or elementary schools. Whenever my cousins come home from school, it is a happy moment for the whole family and we host parties to welcome them home. Whenever my older cousins are at home, I enjoy their company and I love to hear stories about college because that is where I will be in a few years’ time.

In the spirit of holidays, we have a vacation or two in a year. During these vacations, plans begin early and when the time comes, it is enjoyable and relaxing. Vacations for us as children tend to be more enjoyable because we have an environment away from home and with minimal parental supervision and we tend to explore and talk among ourselves. Team building during vacations strengthens the bond in families.

Family is a blessing to individuals because that is where they belong and it is what defines them. A good family is built through moral values and team effort. Having family events and parties or vacations re important is strengthening the relationships within a family. A happy individual is definitely from a happy family.

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Short Story about a Poor Family in English for Kids

This short story help in guiding students to work hard and experiment in life. 

Students will also learn to be more spontaneous and smart in any given social situation.

Introduction to the Short Story about a Poor Family

The short story about a poor family revolves around a destitute man and his unfulfilled dreams. We all have to remember that ‘work is worship’ and simply dreaming about achieving our goals is not something. The tale of the poor man conveys the importance of ‘walking the talk,’ and learning the importance of being practical in our lives.

Young kids will learn invaluable life lessons from this short story as it clearly illustrates the significance of hardwork and dedication, and not simply imagining things inside our head. Short stories like this are a treasure trove of knowledge for children, and parents and teachers should encourage young kids to develop the habit of reading.

Origin of the Short Story About a Poor Family 

Although the short story about the poor man has no specific origin, we can say that its core is the famous proverb – ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ The proverb was first quoted in Algernon Sidney’s work, and we can find its variants in the Holy Bible and the Quran. It is a motto emphasizing the importance of self-agency and initiation in being successful and the poor family story moral serves as an antithesis to this proverb.

Poor Family Story Summary 

The story begins with a man who is frail, hungry, and extremely poor. He was also very lonely, without any family of his own. The man had no job, and he begged for money and food. Every day, after asking for morsels and pennies from pedestrians on the street, the man would go back to his hut and keep all of his day’s earnings inside an earthen pot hung beside his bed.

One day, the man was tired of begging all day, and decided to sleep early. During his deep slumber, he began dreaming. In his dreams, he was a wealthy man with bountiful riches. He also saw that he was no longer lonely, and had a beautiful wife, and they had many children. The man dreamt that he possessed the best-in-class luxuries, there was no scarcity of food in his house, and rather the dining table was filled with scrumptious-looking delicacies. The man continued to dream and saw that his children were playing and jumping around his big mansion, and he also began to join them.

While he was playing with his children in the dream, the poor began to move his legs fervently and the earthen pot beside his bed fell and broke. The man woke up with a startle, and realized that all his riches were a mere dream. Then, he looked down to see his night’s food being splattered across the floor. The poor man’s face fell, and he again went back to sleep, feeling hungry and miserable.

A Poor Man Struggling to Achieve His Dreams

Moral of the Story

The poor family story moral is that building castles in the air is not enough. We have to work hard, and make the most of a situation. The poor man took recourse to beg to get by with his life. He did not try to get out of his comfort zone, and seek jobs or look for opportunities that would give him a dignified life. However, he kept on daydreaming about being, which backfired, and all his food for the night got spilled. So, we have to remember that although daydreaming and having larger-than-life goals is by no means bad, there has to be a balance between idealism and practicality for us to fulfill those goals.

Note to Parents

It goes without saying that short stories are excellent to nourish the mind and intellect of children. Through stories, children learn the veritable importance of being righteous in life. For example, the short story about a poor family helps kids learn the significance of working hard to fulfill their dreams. Likewise, they also get a hint of social problems like poverty, unemployment, etc. Thus, teachers and parents should encourage children to inculcate the habit of reading.

FAQs on Short Story about a Poor Family in English for Kids

1. Why was the poor man begging?

The poor man was begging because he had no means of livelihood.

2. Why did the poor man dream of having a beautiful wife?

The poor man dreamt of having a beautiful wife because he was very lonely in real life and was looking for companionship.

3. Why did the poor man sleep hungry?

The poor man slept hungry because he kicked and broke the earthen pot where all his food was kept while dreaming.

The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis Essay (Critical Writing)

The central argument and purpose of the film Poor Kids is to highlight the issue of a child living in poverty in the United States. The film follows the stories of three children, Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny, to provide a unique perspective of the struggles that poverty brings. It illustrates their families’ challenges and how poverty has impacted their lives. The film also analyses the importance of support systems such as the school’s “nutrition club” and the Salvation Army shelter in helping these children and their families.

The documentary follows the stories of three children, Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny, all living in poverty in the United States. Brittany is nine years old and lives with her family of four. Her mother suffers from mental health problems, and her father lost his job, making it difficult for the family to pay the bills ( Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020). They are forced to downsize to a much smaller home, and Brittany talks about being hungry and missing the healthy food that her family used to eat. She receives a bag of food from the school’s “nutrition club,” which provides poor students with food on Fridays. Kaylie is ten years old and lives with her single mother, brother, and a baby on the way. Her mother is still studying with limited time to earn a living and cannot afford to pay the bills and buy food ( Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020). The family moves into a motel room, and Kaylie is not enrolled in school. Johnny is thirteen years old, and his family lives in a Salvation Army homeless shelter. His father is looking for a job to help the family get back on their feet. All the children talk about the scuffles of poverty and their hopes for their future.

The film uses rhetorical and persuasive strategies to support its argument. It presents facts about the issue, such as the statistics on child poverty in the United States, to show the magnitude of the problem. It also uses the stories of Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny to illustrate children’s struggles living in poverty. The film does not address any counterfactual information about the issue but instead focuses on the stories of the three children and their families to illustrate the challenges of being poor ( Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020).

The structure of the film helps to achieve its purpose by showing the stories of the three children in a personal and intimate way. By following the stories of Brittany, Kaylie, and Johnny, the film can demonstrate the impacts of poverty in a more personal and emotional way. It shows their challenges, hope, and resilience as they struggle to break out of poverty (Gadsden, 2021). The film’s argument is valid, as it is supported by facts and stories of the children and their families. The film does not contain any fallacies, contradictions, or inconsistencies.

The documentary affirmed my knowledge of poverty by showing these children’s difficulties due to lack of extreme neediness. It showed these families’ challenges of job loss, mental health issues, a lack of housing stability, and hunger (Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020). It also showed the resilience of these children as they tried to get a better life and follow their dreams ( Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline 2020). The documentary challenged my knowledge by showing the importance of support systems, such as the school’s “nutrition club” and the Salvation Army shelter, in helping children and their families (Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020). This emphasizes the need for more support systems to help those in poverty and shows how they can help those in need.

Frontline. (2020). Poor kids (full documentary) | frontline (video). YouTube. Web.

Gadsden, V. L. (2021). Literacy and poverty: Intergenerational issues within African American families . Children of Poverty , 85–124. Web.

Van Lancker, W., & Parolin, Z. (2020). Covid-19, school closures, and child poverty: A social crisis in the making . The Lancet Public Health , 5 (5). Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, January 19). The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-poor-kids-frontline-documentary-analysis/

"The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis." IvyPanda , 19 Jan. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/the-poor-kids-frontline-documentary-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis'. 19 January.

IvyPanda . 2024. "The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis." January 19, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-poor-kids-frontline-documentary-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis." January 19, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-poor-kids-frontline-documentary-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Poor Kids Frontline Documentary Analysis." January 19, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-poor-kids-frontline-documentary-analysis/.

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