According to Maslow, a person does not feel the need of a higher category of needs until the needs below it have been met. For example, one does not think about safety needs until biological needs have been met, or belonging needs until safety and biological needs have been met, and so on.
This is true for adults as well as children, but the impact of unmet needs is greater for a younger child, who is still in the early stages of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual development. If the child is focused(stuck) on having his basic needs met, such as enough food to eat or sleep to function, etc., or if his family or living situation is violent or unstable, he will not be able to attend to the demands of learning how to be a healthly person - personally, socially, even morally. Frustration and acting out may become a problem, school performance and learning will be diminished, and social skills will be affected.
Making sure the basic needs are met allows the child to move ahead in his or her developmental journey towards mature and healthy personhood.
