The Effects of Economic Recession on Children - Essay Sample

Introduction

When economic recession sets in, the effects are tremendous. It affects every sector of the economy, including changing the entire demography of all ages and gender. In most cases, these effects can be very severe and cause eve human life. Children are among those who are most affected by these economic downtowns. In the past, records of children being mistreated and used to work alongside the adults to save the situation have been very rampant. This paper aims to discuss the effect of economic downtown on child abuse.

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When an economic downturn happens, people lose their jobs ad are not able to meet their basic needs. This includes providing food, clothing, and even shelter (Brooks-Gunn, William, & Jane, 724). The stress may also cause families to break or cause constant conflicts within thee hoes. The people who suffer the most are the children who become subjects of these situations. In homes that break apart, the elder children are forced to work to help the single parent take care of the other siblings. This has been recorded in history.

The child may be first forced to drop out of school so as to look for work. Often, they would be given hard work, for example, packaging in industries or carrying luggage. The child does all these activities, and they may not even be at the prime of the age of doing such difficult chores. This transition from school to an uncertain environment may also have a tremendous effect on the mental development of the child. Most are stressed ups; they lose hope of ever-continuing with education and, therefore, may even develop to depression and trauma. The worst of his is that they may not have access to healthcare to take care of these conditions.

Some of the environments that the children are working in may not also be very conducive. This is because, with the economic downturn, the rates of unemployment are very high, and jobs become very scarce. The child would be put in a position where they can work in any environment and any work as long as they earn. They are maltreated and abused. Some like young girls may suffer sexual abuse from their boss's o even from their peers in the working environment since they are not grown enough to defend themselves.

The economic downturn also affects parenting and mental hath of parents who, in turn, parent the children poorly. Some of the effects include aggressive parenting behavior, reduction in closeness, and warmth of parents to their children Schneider, Waldfogel, & Brooks-Gunn, 73). Parents would ultimately increase their harshness and neglect their children. The potential cause for this may be the differing expectations that the child has and the economic capability of the parents. It would affect especially small children who are not in a position to understand what is going on in the economy. For older youths, they may understand and cope up with the condition. Some of the aggressive behavior may include increased spanking of the child; material hardship may cause domestic violence.

The effects of the maltreatment of the child extend even to their adulthood, where some develop antisocial behavior, developmental problems, and heart diseases. The abuse they receive influences their cognitive development and how they view life. Most of those who get affected the more are the children from low-income families. The parents may not even be in a position to realize that the child is getting changed and therefore neglect them. Most of the future career is destroyed for those who are forced to drop out of school to look for jobs.

The Connection Between Violence and Economic Downturns

There is a significant relationship between violence and economic downturns. When there is an economic downturn, the rates of unemployment increases so that many people lose their jobs. The majority of these people are parents who have children depending on them. This affects their wellbeing tremendously as they have bills and needs to meet. The parent is tasked with providing food, shelter, clothing, and other needs for the children. When most lose jobs and have no other source of income, stress sets n. This stress may elevate and grow to develop become depression. Psychology suggests that anxiety or depression affect mental status in which would influence the behavior. The parent may, therefore, end you acting irrationally towards the child. They may begin seeing the child as a source of a burden as they cannot be able to provide for them. The parent, therefore, ends up being aggressive, and this potentially would lead to violence.

The high rates of unemployment may cause some of the youths and even parents to resort to using drugs and selling them. These drugs would ultimately affect their mental judgment and may put them in poor mental health status. Such may be easily provoked and would be triggered to become violent. It also encourages crime as a means of finding material items to satisfy their needs and wants. Women and girls are the once who suffer and become the victims of this violence in most cases. Some may be raped while their husbands would beat some of the women. Children watching all these developments would also be affected and thus explains the inactivity of some of the children.

Studies done on subjective well-being has indicated that economic shocks may affect families through the assessment of well-being (Schneider, Kristen & Sara, 581). This is based on empirical evidence of individuals who have reported being affected by economic downturns. Families that do not experience financial losses during the recession were forced to, however, lower consumptions. The influence of wellbeing has a potential risk on the behavior of the individual due to a switch from a previous comfort. The adjustments come with a variety of effects on the cognition judgments of a person. The influences that have been recorded have been a negative impact. This change in behavior would ultimately change how a person approaches issues, which, in the end, become violent.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the economic recession has tremendous effects on the lives of several people and mostly children. Child abuse and mistreatment are among the significant impacts of the economic downturn. The implications would go even to the adulthood of the children and affect their future. Education would be affected and, ultimately, their careers. Violence also increases with economic downturns, especially among youths. It is recommended that governments consider funding people and looking into these issues whenever an economic downturn happens so that the effects may be minimized. Children would be given support in terms of basic needs and ensure learning continues.

Works Cited

Schneider, Daniel, Kristen Harknett, and Sara McLanahan. "Intimate partner violence in the Great Recession." Demography 53.2 (2016): 471-505.

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, William Schneider, and Jane Waldfogel. "The Great Recession and the risk for child maltreatment." Child abuse & neglect 37.10 (2013): 721-729.

Schneider, W., Waldfogel, J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2017). The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect. Children and youth services review, 72, 71-81.