Foreclosures are causing damage to the health and grades of children. Nearly 80,000 kids in Ohio have seen their houses swallowed up by foreclosure while innumerable others are facing this risk as per a recent study. Foreclosures cause the family stress levels to increase. It results in households moving to poorer localities having higher crime rates and weak neighbourhood bonds as per the findings of First Focus of Washington D.C.

The affected children do not perform well in school and begin to slide back; health issues too are connected with foreclosures. Bruce Lesley of First Focus (president) said, “It is a huge, traumatic issue for families. The implications for kids’  long-term well-being are really poor”.

In Ohio nearly 98,000 children are at risk of being thrown out of their homes as the mortgage dues are over 60 days pending as per this recent report. Across America millions of children have been evicted with their families and millions more are facing the same fate. They double with relations and friends but this leaves an emotional and psychological scar that tells on family bonds.

Senior research fellow at Urban Institute Julia Isaacs said, “The financial pressure on parents tends to affect interactions with each other and with their children, and a less supportive parenting style caused by stress can have negative consequences on children’s behaviour and their overall development”. She has authored this report.

The children suffer from changing schools and such move causes them to fall behind by as much as a month. The families postpone medical visits and avoid buying essential medicines.

The foreclosure is not a single isolated event. It takes sometimes 600 days to run its course said assistant professor Cyleste Collins of Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development (Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland). She explained that many of the households hang on in a kind of limbo state for prolonged number of months. It is agonizing to live with the sword of Damocles hanging over one’s head.

The families try their best to keep the families in the same schools while clinging on to their homes at least till the school year comes to an end. But the task is challenging to shield the kids from the harsh reality of survival.

First Focus suggests that the government policies should be shaped bearing in mind the plight of the children. Loans should be modified and more projects should be launched so that the households are easily able to avail of affordable homes.

Photo by Renjith Krishnan.

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