¶ … families are living in poverty. Many of these families are living in such extreme conditions that they cannot afford even such basic needs as food for every meal. Living and growing up in such conditions affects every area of life and ultimately the country as a whole. The escalation of poverty among families create tremendous challenges for children. It can negatively impact a growing child's mental and physical health, for example. Such conditions also affect education. A child suffering from chronic mental or physical conditions related to poverty cannot receive optimal educational opportunities. Ultimately, such a child will not be able to contribute to the economy of the country or arrange his or her own well-being in the world. This, in turn, creates further burdens for the country's welfare system. For this reason, it is important to study the contributing factors to poverty in the country in order to find solutions and to help families afflicted by poverty and its associated conditions to elevate themselves towards better economic conditions. This is then also the purpose of this literature review. An important trend in the literature is how the parent-child relationship is affected by one of the most common effects of poverty, which is homelessness or residential instability. Indeed, many parents are unable to properly nurture and bond with their children as a result of the many stress factors they face every day. This has effects...

The author makes a particular point of focusing on the stability of housing in affecting the well-being and development of children. The lack of affordable housing often creates not only a situation in which families are homeless, but could also result in moving from home to home frequently and/or sharing homes with family or friends. This instability has fundamental effects on the growth and development of young children.
Statistics reveal the dire extent of the problem (Aratani, 2009). Of the more than 1.5 million children living in families without a stable home, 42% are less than six years old. These families are most likely to be headed by single mothers in their twenties, with young children being part of the household.

Aratani (2009) reports the most common causes of homelessness as lack of affordable housing, poverty, and domestic violence. Another factor of concern related to homelessness is the number of "unaccompanied youth" who face homelessness. Factors that play a role here are mental illness and substance abuse, along with the common factor of less than affordable housing.

One of the most important recommendations the author…