Child poverty can cause long-lasting financial trauma, which can erode your relationship with money.
This has negative physical and psychological health consequences, along with reduced educational and professional attainment. Poverty increases the risk of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and substance addiction.
Researchers have revealed that socioeconomic status can be linked to a majority of anxiety disorders which can later manifest into PTSD. Food insecurity, financial woes, housing instability, along with living in vulnerable conditions can wear on one's psyche.
The symptoms of money trauma parallel the symptoms of PTSD. Physical symptoms include nervousness, jitters, and insomnia, among others. Emotionally, one might not be able to feel close to others as they experience apathy, anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or despair due to their circumstances.
Poverty, neglect, housing instability, violence, food insecurity and separation from parents all affect childhood development – and thus, lifelong health. Although children are born ready to learn and grow, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that occur in youth resulting in toxic stress.
Common examples of childhood adversity include child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, bullying, serious accidents or injuries, discrimination, extreme poverty, and community violence.
Children who directly or indirectly experience risk factors associated with poverty have higher odds of experiencing poor health problems as adults such as heart disease, hypertension, stroke, obesity, certain cancers, and even a shorter life expectancy.
Poverty is both a cause of mental health problems and a consequence. Poverty in childhood and among adults can cause poor mental health through social stresses, stigma and trauma.
You might have difficulties trusting, low self-esteem, fears of being judged, constant attempts to please, outbursts of frustration, or social anxiety symptoms that won't let up. Can childhood trauma be healed?
An article in ForbesWomen defines financial trauma as when “expenses outweigh income for an extended period of time.” The article says one-third of millennials have experienced it.
Signs & Symptoms of Generational Trauma
“The symptoms of generational trauma include hypervigilance, fears of death or no hope for the future, mistrust of outsiders, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), low self-esteem, issues of addiction, domestic violence, and sexual abuse.”
For example, research has linked early poverty to a reduction in the size of the hippocampus, a brain region critical for healthy stress response and memory function.
Childhood poverty is associated with developmental delays, toxic stress, chronic illness, and nutritional deficits. Individuals who experience childhood poverty are more likely to experience poverty into adulthood, which contributes to generational cycles of poverty.
A poverty mentality is one that influences behaviors consistent with beliefs that money shouldn't be spent, opportunities are limited, any risk at all is dangerous, any success is temporary and non-replicable, and generally remaining in the back of the pack is safest.
Emotional Poverty ( also known as ACEs ) the absence of the basic nurturing and protective parental relationships due to violence, neglect or dysfunctional parenting . The three burdens often converge and exacerbate each other. But not always.
Usually by the age of six they can be enrolled in child labor. Nearly all the potential effects of poverty impact the lives of children—poor infrastructure, unemployment, malnutrition, domestic violence, child labor, and disease.
They found that poverty itself did not cause individuals to act dishonestly. Whether income influences ethical behavior is a topic of much debate. One approach holds that ethical acts are limited to those who can 'afford' them. Poverty, in this view, causes individuals to behave immorally.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Courage, Self-Love and Complex Trauma (CPTSD)
If you often feel as though your life has become unmanageable, this could be a sign that you have some unresolved emotional trauma. Emotional overreactions are a common symptom of trauma. A victim of trauma might redirect their overwhelming emotions towards others, such as family and friends.
Children's experience of poverty can also lead to bullying, or feelings of exclusion, as they may have fewer friends and less access to the social activities of their peers. You can find out more about this in our briefing, 'Child Poverty and low income: health impact and health inequalities'.
Children in poor families have fewer books and other educational resources at home, and they are less likely to experience family outings, activities, and programs that can enrich learning opportunities. Their families are more likely to experience housing instability.
Children under five
Compared to working-age adults or senior citizens, children are significantly more likely to live in poverty — 18.4 percent of Americans under age 18 live in poverty, compared to 12.6 percent of 18 to 64 year olds and 9.3 percent of senior citizens. And the most vulnerable children are the youngest.