In the article "Low-Income Children in the United States: A Brief Demographic Profile," the author mentions that the number of American children who live in poverty had decreased from 23 percent in 1993 to 16 percent in 2000. Even though it had declined, I still think the number is high because 16 percent is like 11 million children living in poverty. I think children who are under 6 years of age are most affected by this because they are starting to develop cognitive and physical skills. It is important for them to live in a safe and good environment in order for them to develop those skills. If they live in a home where not much space is available and where food is not sufficient, they won't grow up to be healthy and fully developed. They need the space to crawl, walk, and explore the things they find, so they can develop their motor skills such as lifting up their heads, arms, and legs and grasping and picking things up. Toys will be needed for them to play with in order for them to develop motor skills. If they don't have a sufficient intake of food, they will lack nutrition. As a result, they won't have a healthy and strong body, and they won't have enough energy to be able to move around that easily. Therefore, lack of intake of food, toys, or space available for children to move around can affect them how they develop physically.
Living in poverty can also affect them mentally because they might be ignored by their parents if their parents are very depressed or stressed out due to financial problems. If the parents have these problems, and that they can't find ways to solve them, the depression they have will get deeper and deeper. They get so depressed that they won't .
have much interaction with their children nor will they even notice or respond to their children's needs. As a result, children will have language and cognitive skills delayed because in order for these skills to develop, they need parents to interact and play with them.
