How does low-income affect children?
The connotation of money has changed throughout the years with it now playing a huge part in modern life. From education to health, the implication of having a low income has the potential to affect children and young people in ways you wouldn’t have thought.
Cognitive development and education
The most common affect is on cognitive development and school achievement. Education in the UK is funded by the government and is free for all pupils, however, the added costs of receiving an education such as school trips, uniforms, extra-curricular activities and school meals have implications on low-income families.
All of these contribute to cognitive development and achievements within school. A child from a low-income background is likely to question why they can’t do the same things as their peers and in turn, the child feels less capable of exploring and fulfilling their potential in education.
All children should have equal opportunities within school, despite their background of income. A child can quickly develop poor thoughts and feelings about themselves, resulting in them becoming distant from wanting to learn. There have been many research studies (including those available on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website) into the effect of little money on a child’s cognitive and schooling outcomes, so it is hard to steer away from the facts of little money.
Life at home
Children can very easily pick up on emotions and if their family are struggling with a low income that child will quickly capture the stress and anxiety from their household. No child should have to take on worry from their home.
Children are born into their circumstances; they don’t choose them. Their future is largely defined by the experiences and ambitions of their parents, teachers and role models. Where these influencers are negative or absent, these children and young people are more likely to struggle to contribute to society due to a lack of confidence and poor self-view worth.
Health and wellbeing
Heath is a huge factor that is affected by money. According to the NHS Scotland, children growing up with little money suffer from health inequalities. This covers a broad spectrum from tooth decay to obesity and it is more likely that their mental and physical health will also be impacted upon.
Our response to the outbreak of the pandemic
The pandemic has been challenging for most, including children and young people. During the outbreak, we quickly adapted our services to support our mentees and their families. Several families that we work with live in food poverty due to no fault of their own. This number sharply increased throughout the pandemic due to parents being made redundant or having to step back from work due to childcare struggles.
Keen to maintain our mentees confidence, self-esteem and resilience levels, The Island team worked hard to ensure those struggling received regular Hampers of Hope which prevented food insecurity for many Island families across York.
Throughout the lockdown period, we provided over 3,000 hampers to families across York as well as ran all of our mentoring sessions online which maintained and developed our relationships with the children and young people that we worked with.
The support we offered over the last 18 months has been a lifeline for many, with a high number of our mentees being able to maintain a positive outlook on life despite the challenges of COVID-19.
COVID-19 will have a long-term impact on society at large from the economy to employment, to the way we interact. We’re determined to maintain and expand our mentoring programmes over the coming years to ensure that the needs of today’s youth and future generations are met.
