I agree with Matt: Poverty affects the quality and amount of time parents get with their children. But most of all, I believe hopelessness, a lack of faith in the system and the future is the worst byproduct of poverty. I offer no solutions as I don’t believe America is ready yet to properly address the problem, to diagnose the disease. But here are the symptoms:
The most graphic illustration of which your question implies is found within two zip codes, which are worlds apart in demographics, but are only about 5 miles apart geographically:
48211 and 48236
Here you can see the average income in 48211 of <$6,000/yr living in homes averaging $36,000 in value, 45% of which are rented, compared to their neighbors in 48236 who enjoy incomes >$121,000/year in homes averaging $200,000 in value, 7% of which are rented. This is an American city. The discrepancy between infant mortality rates, life expectancy, education, home prices, renter-to-owner ratios are equal to or greater than that of middle class America and many third world countries.