How Poverty and Socioeconomic Status Affect Human Development

How Poverty and Socioeconomic Status Affect Human Development
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Abstract
Human development is an essential aspect of any society. However, persistent inequality implies that some sections of the population have fewer external forces that limit or impede human development. The current paper describes what entails human development through the lens of existing theories. A key area in human development, and cognitive abilities development, in particular, is the childhood stage. Research shows that childhood outcomes shape future outcomes. Therefore, the paper intends to establish how persistent factors like poverty and differences in socioeconomic status impact the development of cognitive abilities and its short- and long-term outcomes. In MLK’s speech, the American government was challenged to address poverty and ensure that development was attained for all. This is because the government has the necessary resources and reach to address the different challenges through policies and regulations. It is impossible to realize changes without government intervention through the use of policies and regulations.
Keywords: Poverty, socioeconomic status, cognitive abilities, human development.
Introduction
Four days before his unfortunate demise, Martin Luther King gave a Sunday summon dubbed Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution. In the speech, he challenged the government to address the issue of poverty in American society, particularly for the African American community, who was then disproportionately affected. In his words, King said, “It is alright to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps” (WRN, 2014). Based on King’s phrase, the current paper premises that a poor person, with limited opportunities, may live their entire life in poverty, not because they are lazy, but because they lack the necessary means to take advantage of the opportunities that may come their way. Poverty, in other words, has far-reaching consequences to the human development process, especially in early childhood development. A child born in poverty will face significant challenges to their development compared to individuals in well-off families or societies. Therefore, the two individuals are more likely to experience different human development trajectories.
Human Development
Several theories strive to explain the concept of human growth and development from different perspectives (Lecture_Notes, Theories of Human Development: Psychosocial, sociocultural, Multicultural, biological, and learning theories Chapter 2). The Life Course Theory (LCT) focuses on how chronological age, relationships, life events, human agency, social change, and common life transition shape an individual’s life. The theory is based on the resolution of crises in different life stages (Lecture_Notes). According to Hutchinson (2014), LCT examines the multiple factors that shape people’s lives from birth to death, where families and individu...