Poverty, its Relation to Divorce and its Effects on Canadian Children - Essay Example

? Poverty, its Relation to Divorce and the effects on Canadian Children. Poverty and divorce most certainly have an effect on the well-being of Canadian children. Long term poverty is defined as the extent to which a child has lived in a family whose income is below that of Canada’s low income cut-off. The effects that poverty and divorce have on children operate as both independent and combined variables. It has been proven that poverty does increase the likelihood of dysfunction, disharmony and depression among family members. Younger children seem to be particularly negatively affected by having to live in a dysfunctional and unstable home. These circumstances are reflected in their behaviors that are displayed at a later age. There are multiple reasons for these effects. Divorce and poverty may also affect the styles of parenting that children are exposed to. Parenting style ultimately plays a significant role in how children relate to themselves, their families and to others. Children from divorced families and families that live in poverty do show a lower level of physical health and wellness, a higher level of hyperactivity as well as a lower performance standard in their academic standing. Several factors contribute to family poverty. These factors may include a lack of employment, lower rate of pay or inadequate income necessary to support dependant family members and possibly insufficient government support from Canadian social assistance and welfare programs. Regardless of the causes of family poverty, a “Family Stress Model” explained in a study by (Conger et al. 2000) has concluded that the presence of a poverty situation in a family is one of the more critical factors that can place stress upon a relationship between two spouses. The strain experienced between spousal partners may bring about feelings of depression and create an environment which is more likely to be dysfunctional for all family members to live in. The risk of divorce is therefore elevated. Marriage breakdown affects women and children at a significantly greater negative level than it does men in terms of economic and emotional consequences. According to the government of Canada statistics, “a women’s family income drops by roughly one-half, and men’s declines about one quarter in the first year of divorce, while using income to needs ratios to adjust for family size indicates a smallish rise in economic well-being for men, versus drops of just over 40% per women”. The responsibilities of caring for children -and this includes enrollment in daycares- may push women below the poverty line. Statistics Canada reports that “single parent families make up 10% of Canadian families, but account for 46% of the children who are living in poverty. The courts awarding of insufficient amounts of spousal and child support have also been identified as significant contributors to poverty in single female parent families. Whether the result of the dysfunction actually does or does not lead to divorce will have an effect on the children who witness the dysfunction. The parents may choose to remain in a single union, and the family stress model predicts that the entire family will be more likely to stay in a state of depression and dysfunction. On the other hand, if the family dissolves through the event of divorce, usually a higher level of stress will be experienced by all members of the family. Also, if the family dissolves it is more likely that the children will remain under the care of the mother and she is more likely to have a lower income in relation to the needs of the children (Finnie 1993; Dooley et al.1995). In the event that single parents choose to marry again, this will decrease the chances of entering a state of poverty but will also increase the chances of having other complicating matters in regards to the management of parent and child relationships within step families (Daly and Wilson 1998). Poverty automatically places all children at a disadvantage. If a child is not able to be properly cared for in terms of shelter provision, clothing and food; this will have an adverse on the child’s feelings of well- being, social adjustment and their health. Children who are raised in families that are not economically sound are more likely to have lower level of nutrition. The family may not be able to provide nutritionally sound foods and or the parents or single parent may not be able to make the time to properly prepare nutritionally sound foods. Children are also particularly influenced by their peers and may not have the latest fashions to wear to school in order to fit in with the other children in the school. In effect they may become social outcasts as a result of their poverty. Children may not be able to participate in certain activities in school or out of school that do not receive social funding if the parents are not able to finance the sport or activity that the child desires to participate in. Children may be required to work at home or help with roles that more economically stable parents are able to fulfill. Parents may not have the time to join or help their children in the participation of extracurricular activities if they do not have time, are forced to work longer hours, or are not emotionally able to support their children in these activities from the stress of living in poverty. Again, in this situation, it is evident that children may also become social outcomes for their inability to join their peers in the participation of team and social activities. Parents who are single parents or under financial stress may not have the monetary or time resources to allow their children to access professional academic help outside of the school, therefore these children are put at an academic disadvantage in comparison to children who come from families that are able to provide financial support towards activities such as tutoring and extra learning resources. Many research studies have focused on the effects that divorce has on children in step families. Some studies have also investigated how the symptoms of family stress can also be predictors for children’s behavior in families that are still intact. A study by Cherlin et al. (1991) concluded that family dysfunction and marital conflict that was experienced by children before the aged of 7 had significant impact on the behavior of these children after the age of 11. The behavioral changes that were noted were in the areas of reading capabilities, achievement in mathematics, and the behavior problems rated by both parents and teachers. The relation of a child’s behavioural problems to a parental divorce was particularly evident in males between the ages of 11 and 16. However, the study also found that the effect of the divorce on the children was predictable in terms of the conditions that were present before the divorce actually occurred. Children who were exposed to stressful familial situations in their early childhood were more likely to underachieve in all of the above categories as was compared to children who were reared in financially stable and emotionally supportive families. According to statistics Canada “ nearly 40 per cent of children who are living in low income families demonstrate high levels of indirect aggression, compared to twenty-five to twenty-nine per cent of children in families whose incomes are $30,000 or higher. A decline in the family’s economic resources may be associated with problems of a cognitive nature which result in poor academic performance; a decline in familial resources was found to be a greater contributor to emotional behavioral problems. There were also differences noted in Canadian studies by Statistics Canada that found children who were living with both parents in a post-divorce situation were likely to have problems that differed from children who were living with both parents. Children in separated families were more than thirteen per cent higher likely to exhibit problems of anxiety, emotional disorder, hyperactivity, attention deficit, conduct disorder and aggression of physical nature. Children who are growing up in families that are living at or below the poverty line are also more likely to leave school and or home earlier than children who grow up in a more economically advantageous environment. These children may drop out of school, are less likely to finish high school and are more likely to rely on social assistance programs. Poverty operates in a cyclical manner. Even adult children are not protected from the effects of poverty and familial dissolution. The impacts of divorce are long standing and can continue to exert an impact into child’s life into the adult years. Parental divorce affects the level of stability in the child’s future relationships. The death of a parent does not have this effect on the child. The impact of divorce on children of an adult age can affect their education which ultimately affects their financial status, their success in their work environment and the success of their marital relationship. Family stress can also lead to problems between spouses that may cause less effective parenting methods. Less effective parenting practices were positively related to negative development and behaviors in children. Parenting methods are complex to examine but can be measured using variables including a lack of control over the behavior of the child, a lack of love and supportive behavior towards the child, inconsistent parenting methods in terms of reward and punishment as well as the exhibition of aggressive and hostile behavior by the parents or other siblings to other children in the family (Conger et al. 1994). The outcomes of childhood behavior as a result of ineffective parenting were measured using variables such as the child’s poor emotional adjustment and displays of aggressive behavior, depression and low self-esteem. Healthy childhood behaviors included achievement in tasks at school and at home, the ability to persist in the completion of difficult tasks and the display of enjoyment of daily life. Past research findings from studies conducted during depression years correlate positively with the findings of a study by Conger in 1992. This study suggests that children are protected from the negative aspects of poverty provided that the children had a relationship that was supportive and stable with their parents. Children who are raised in poverty are more likely to be in a family that dissolves as a result of divorce. Divorced families are more likely to have a lower level of income and at the same time experience higher levels of stress and tension between the spousal relationship and between all family members. The dissolution of the family can have a great impact on the child at not only a young age but into their adult life as well. Women are more likely to take over as the single parent caregiver and are more likely than the men to experience a higher degree of difficulty in emotional and financial recovery from the divorce. In Canada, social assistance may be far less than adequate to meet the needs of women and children who are in such a situation. Poverty and divorce appear to operate in a cyclical manner; often it is difficult to break the cycle of divorce and poverty. Children who are subjected to poverty and divorce are more likely to experience negative consequences in several ways. These negative consequences include being subjected to emotional and financial parenting practices that are problematic. As a result the child may experience difficulty in social adjustment, academic achievement and negative behavioral displays. The children may also show a lower level of health and wellness from the inability of the parent to provide adequate care for the child in terms of nutritional well-being. The exposure to poverty and or divorce can impact the children in the family as a result of one or both of these circumstances. Overall, there is simply a greater chance of negative impact on the lives of children who are a member of a family that is economically disadvantaged and or who experiences divorce as a direct or indirect result of the poverty. Bibliography Amato, Paul. R. and Bruce Keith. (1991) Parental Divorce and the Well-Being of Children: A Meta-Analysis, Psychological Bulletin, 110 (1):26-53.. Conger, K.J., Reuter, M.A. and Conger, R.D. (2000). The role of economic pressure in the lives of parents and their adolescents: The Family Stress Model. Pp.201-223 in L.J. Crocket and R.J. Silbereisen (Eds.), Negotiating adolescence in times of social change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Conger, R.D., X.Ge, Elder G.H. Jr., Lorenz, F.O. & Simons, R.L. (1994) Economic Stress, Coercive Family Process and Development Problems of Adolescents. Child Development, 65:541-61. Coleman, J. S. (1998). Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. American Journalof Sociology94 supp.: S94-S120. Dooley, M. et al. (1995) Family Matters: New Policies for Divorce, Lone Mothers and Child Poverty. Toronto: CD Howe Institute. Guo, G. & Harris, K.M. (2000). The Mechanisms Mediating Effects of Poverty on Chjildren’s Intellectual Development. Demography, 7: 431-47. Hunter, L. (2001, March) Assigning 1996 EA Codes to Cycle 1 NLSCY Data. Statistics Canada Web Documents. McLeod, Jane D. and Micheal J. Shanahan. Poverty, Parenting and Children’s Mental Health. American Sociological Review. 58: 351-66, 1993 Read More