Socioeconomic+Status

=**__Overview__**= toc Socioeconomic status aka SES is “the social standing or class of an individual or group which is often measured by combination of education, income, and occupation” [1]. Socioeconomic status is divided by three different classes: upper class, middle class, and lower class. The three main factors of SES which include education, income, and occupation determine which class an individual may fall under.Socioeconomic status becomes an important issue in society because it reveals inequities in access to resources and issues related to privilege, power, and control [1]. Additionally, socioeconomic status becomes an important factor to consider when evaluating one’s mental and physical health, which includes the brain development in children and adolescents. SES affects our society and impacts the lives of children, youth and families. This is apparent in physiological health, physical health, education, and family well-being [2].

=**__SES and Education__**= Academic performance solely reflects the effort of an individual. However, as a child, it is important to receive the basics and the fundamentals to achieve academic success. In past research, it was found that children from low SES households develop academic skills more slowly compared to children from high SES household [2]. Moreover, researchers from Louisiana Tech University have determined that students who come from higher SES have higher levels of self-efficacy which ultimately leads to better outcome expectations [16]. This may due to the fact that low SES communities are underfunded and under-resourced which can negatively affect students’ academic progress [2]. According to National Center for Education Statistics, “Low-income students fail to graduate at five times the rate of middle-income families and six times that of higher-income youth” [13].

Due the fact that low SES communities will be less-funded and under-resourced, children will have less-qualified teachers and receive less academic quality [2]. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill concluded that children from low SES communities acquire language skills more slowly and are at risk of reading difficulties as children’s early vocabulary skills are linked in socioeconomic status [17]. According to National Education Association, only 53% of children of ages three to five were read to daily by a family member while children from low SES households are less likely were read to daily [11]. Furthermore, it was found that 47% of fourth graders from low income families read below the basic level [12].

Because these students are lacking in academic achievement, they end up dropping out of school. More than 8000 students quit high school every day, and according to the National Center for Education Statistics for 2015, it was determined that high school dropout rate among persons 16-24 years old was highest in low-income families (9.9 percent) as compared to high-income families (2.4 percent) [14].

=**__SES and Brain Development in Children and Adolescents__**= A research called “Family Income, Parent Education and Brain Structure in Children and Adolescents” analyzed the effect on brain development in children who grow up in different environments. More specifically, they evaluated different socioeconomic status such as parental education attainment, occupation, and income and how that relates to structural brain development [3].

Learning from their experiments, the researchers from Columbia University found out that children from higher socioeconomic status had better performance on language tasks such as perception of spatial relationships, memory of facts and events. There was a linear correlation between cognitive skills and socioeconomic status (parental education, income, etc) [3].

The physical structure of the brain that is responsible for cognitive function are cortical thickness and its surface area [3]. This relates to structural brain development which in result corresponds to cognitive performance. After analyzing the physical brain structure, it was determined that children who come from low income homes suffer greater losses in brain development [3]. Children from higher income homes had more cortical surface area where lower income homes have less cortical surface area [3].

=**__SES and Family Well-Being__**= The role of parental emotional well-being and parenting practices are very important for child mental health. Even though parenting practices are different for every household, it was found that parenting practices are better in high SES environment which ultimately leads to healthier child development [9]. This may include intellectual and language development.

When considering the financial resources or time availability for their children, it was determined that families from low SES households are less likely to spend time with their children whether it is for academic support or for play time [2]. It is important to spend quality time with children and adolescents because it shows that parents care and the focus the children receive will boost their self-esteem and personal development. It also gives time to get to know each other, and the individual attention is meaningful to the children and because they feel important, it can prevent violence against family members.Family stability is important for child’s growth, and children who receive high level of affections from their parents are less likely to get in trouble [18]. They are more likely to be more confident and have better social connections with peers [18].

=**__SES and Society__**= Not only does socioeconomic status impact child development and education, but it also impacts the lives of many ethnic and racial minorities. According to National Center for Children in Poverty, 43 percent of children under age 18 in the U.S. live in low-income families and 21 percent live in poor families [24]. While low SES correlates with lower education and poverty, the inequalities in wealth and quality of life are increasing and it becomes apparent that communities are often segregated by SES, race, and ethnicity [19]. According to the National Center for Education Statistics of 2013, 32 percent of Hispanic children under age 18 were living in poverty [20]. Additionally, 13 percent of Asian children under age 18 were living in poverty and 36 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native and 27 percent of Pacific Islander children were living in poverty [20]. Furthermore, past research has determined that minorities are more likely to receive high-cost mortgages [19]. This includes 53 percent for African Americans, 43 percent for Latinos, and 18 percent for Caucasians [19].

High school dropout rates were 5.2 percent for White, 7.4 percent for Black, and 10.6 for Hispanics in 2014 [21]. Researchers from Columbia University concluded that American high schools are highly segregated by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status [22]. Race, ethnicity, and SES are strongly associated with academic performance, and children who are from low SES with minority background are more likely to attend segregated schools [22].

=**__Mental Health__**= Socioeconomic status rises an issue of mental health among people of all ages. SES affects human functioning in many ways which in result can greatly impact an individual’s psychology and life span. Many studies have shown that lower SES has resulted in negative psychological health outcomes while higher SES has resulted in positive psychological health outcomes such as optimism, and higher self-esteem [2]. Mental health in SES could vary from anxiety to depression. Activities that are encountered through lower SES include attempted suicide, cigarette smoking, and heavy drinking. It has also found in studies that people in lower SES tend to make poorer decisions [4]. For example, a cognitive neuroscientist named Kimberly Noble from Columbia University had mentioned that students from low SES don’t try hard enough, are irresponsible, and make poor decisions [4].

Moreover, researchers from Princeton University found out that richer people tend to avoid high-cost borrowing when the poor people took out loans and over borrowed when they are not in the hands of capable of paying back on time [5]. Even though poor people make far more astute decisions when it comes to prices, they have very little cognitive bandwidth to pursue job training or education that could help them out of poverty [5]. Furthermore, a researcher determined that children and adolescents with low SES are at higher risk of mental health problems such as anxiety disorder and depression [7]. Similarity, it was concluded that socioeconomic inequalities are stronger for children than adolescents [7].

=**__Physical Health__**= Just like how the mental health is associated with socioeconomic status, the same thing applies to physical health as well. Lower SES links to negative health outcomes throughout the life span [2]. The two chronic health problems in youth today are asthma and obesity [6]. It was found in research that obesity is associated with quality of life and family SES [8]. One research was done to analyze the effects of food environment and socioeconomic status on obesity rates, and the researchers determined that low SES community was linked to higher obesity rates regardless of the food environments and the city environment [15].

Researchers have found out that SES contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease include cigarette smoking and high density lipoprotein cholesterol [10]. The research concluded that the relationship between SES and the risk factors was strong and statistically significant, and the higher risk factors associate with lower levels of education [10]. Generally speaking, people from high SES are more likely to avoid unhealthy behaviors. In addition, poor health outcomes leave stressful experiences for children which can also reflect on the child’s health outcome as well. Poor families have scarce resources and poor healthcare benefits which prevents them to get the treatment they need. This allows the children of working age to drop out of school and start working.

=**__Future Changes__**= Many researches have been done to alleviate and minimize the gap in socioeconomic status by analyzing the negative effects of SES. In result, there has been drastic changes in student’s education and in our society. Communities have been working together to raise awareness and make changes in our society. The government has taken action to address this problem in student education and issues associated with low income families. Socioeconomic status is something that will probably never go away. However, there are still a lot of room for improvements. Future potential research may involve investigating how to place qualified teachers in low SES communities and how to promote and implement better education system utilizing government funding.

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