Indian Children in
Poverty
Overview: The Origins of
Poverty
Many Indian children suffer from
poverty; more than 50% of India's total population lives below the poverty
line, and more than 40% of this population are children.
Reasons for this are embedded in India's social structure: first
children are taught to accept the conditions which produce poverty, and
then they perpetuate those conditions. If they are poor, Indian children
and their families will do anything they can in order to
survive. Often, this means repeating for themselves in generating
the conditions in which their ancestors came into poverty. We contend
that the following
three conditions
have caused India's poverty for many generations: (1) traditional
cultural values,
(2) discrimination, and
(3) the societal oppression
of children's ability to create change. Children are first born into
the
experience of
poverty. Then, they reproduce it.
As we have stated on our
"Family" page, Indian families place tremendous emphasis on
religious and cultural tradition. The Indian civilization has
survived for hundreds and thousands of years because of
complex, perpetual socialization practices where children are
taught to accept the cultural values of their ancestors.
The experience of discrimination is another
origin of poverty. First, there is a clear distinction
between the traditional socialization
of Indian boys and Indian girls. Parents teach their daughters to be
passive, dependent, and subservient so that they will grow up to be
obedient wives. In contrast, Indian parents prepare their boys to be
independent caretakers and providers.
Indian children find themselves
categorized, however, on additional bases
such as by age, and by caste. Their caste is a community, as well as a
socio-economic status, that they are born into. As we have stated before,
Indian children,
especially those in minority
groups, learn not to value their own ideas, but rather to accept their
poor fate and perpetuate India's trusted cultural
traditions. The suppression of women, children, and lower
class Indians significantly limits the amount of humans who may
contribute to this nation's growth, and keeps many of these individuals
impoverished.
The Experience of Poverty
India has about 160 million
family units, and a large portion of India's population is very
young. The line between an infant, child and teenager or young
adult is extremely thin. To be born in India is a big
challenge, especially for kids whose parents can't afford even
the basics, like housing, food and
education.
Today, unfortunately, India has one of the
highest numbers of
children working for meager wages, just help their families to
survive. When children work, they have much less time at home with their
families, or to attend
primary school and learn
basic skills, such as the abilities to read, write, or solve math
problems.
In India, there are children living in
slums and on the streets, child
labourers, and child construction workers.
Over 50,000 children are abandoned in the country every
year. 11 million children live on the streets and there are
more than 44 million child
labourers in India in all.
India does have about 200 million people
who are classified by the
government as
middle class, yet India also has about 500 million people who do live
quite under poverty line.
The experience of poverty means not having
the basics: food, nutrition,
clean water, adequate housing, adequate clothing, adequate working
conditions, etc. Children in poverty were most likely born into
poverty. They will labor from a very young age, and also, will most
likely not receive an adequate education. Families reproduce very quickly
in order to survive: they reproduce children who will assist in generating
income for the family, and they reproduce the culture that keeps them in
poverty.
Children often feel hopeless, exploited,
and because of socio-economic sentiments of inferiority, perhaps that they
cannot even ask for better. Still, we have found that Indian children are
agents
who
persist in their struggle: they work, some attend school, and they develop
strong
ties to their families and communities. Perhaps over time,
organizations will empower Indian mothers, fathers, and
children to attain more land, a better standard of living, and
the vision of a better future.
The above information was derived from
following
sources:
Andalakshmi, S. (1991). The Female Child in a Family Setting. The
Indian Journal of Social Work, LII, 29-26.
Karkal, M. (1991). Invisibility of the Girl Child in India. The Indian
Journal of Social Work, LII, 5-12.
Mane, P. N. (1991). Socialisation of Hindu Women in Their Childhood: An
Analysis of Literature. The Indian Journal of Social Work, LII,
81-95.
McDonald, H. (1994). Born in Chains: Untouchables Still Struggle to Break
Bonds of Caste. Far Eastern Economic Review, 157, 32.
Rooparnine, J. (1990). Characteristics of Holding, Patterns of Play, and
Social Behaviors Between Parents and Infants in New Dehli,
India. Developmental Psychology, 26, 4, 667-673.
This website was created in the Fall of 1999 by
Matthew
Cardinale,
Amanda
Gitlin,
and Lindsey
Hollister, students at Tulane University. Our collaborate effort is
part of a class project for
Professor April
Brayfield's
Sociology 119:
Children
and Society Class.
Information about children in other countries can be found at The
Children Around the World homepage.