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Poverty

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence

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Poverty is a worldwide problem that affects adolescents. Poverty influences adolescent development and health. The implications of poverty for cognitive and social development, physical and mental health, and sexual risk are explored.

In the USA, a disproportionately large number of children and adolescents remain vulnerable over time because of poverty, regardless of how poverty is defined. The poverty rate for youth under age 18 has been higher than the adult rate since the mid-1970s. In 2008, the poverty rate for children was 19%, compared with a rate of 11.7% for adults and 9.7% for older adults (DeNavas-Walt et al. 2009). Further, racial and ethnic disparities in poverty exist. According to the Census Bureau 2008 report on poverty, the rate of poverty among non-Hispanic Whites was 8.6%, while it was 11.8% among Asians, 23.2% among Hispanics, and 24.7% among Blacks (DeNavas-Walt et al. 2009; U.S. Census Bureau 2009).

Poverty is also a global issue, and extreme poverty is a...

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Acknowledgments

Carol Dashiff authored the sections on development and physical health; Anthony Roberson authored the section on mental health; and Gwen Childs authored the section on sexual risk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL, 35294-1210, USA

    Carol Dashiff & Gwendolyn Childs

  2. Capstone College of Nursing, The University of Alabama, Box 870358, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487-0358, USA

    Anthony James Roberson

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  1. Carol Dashiff
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  2. Gwendolyn Childs
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  3. Anthony James Roberson
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Correspondence to Carol Dashiff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Roger J. R. Levesque

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Dashiff, C., Childs, G., Roberson, A.J. (2011). Poverty. In: Levesque, R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_225

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