Assess The Causes Of Child Poverty

As mentioned by Ruane and Cerulo in Second Thoughts, harsh realities of poverty affect children’s lives in profound ways. Children lack any power in improving their circumstances and depend on adults to gain access to basic necessities. Access to proper healthcare, education, and basic nutrition continues to be an obstacle for children. Poverty impedes children’s aptitude to learn and contributes to poor overall health and mental health. Perhaps most important, poverty becomes a cyclical nature that is difficult to overcome. Children who experience poverty when they are young tend to experience persistent poverty over the course of their entire lives. According to the Child Welfare League of America, the national poverty rate for children

Poverty is often associated with Third World countries, where the outcome of such poverty is often death from disease or starvation. However this is the extremes of poverty, and is rarely experienced within the UK. Despite this poverty still takes place within the UK just at a lesser extent, however this does not take away from the devastating effects that poverty can have. This poverty can be attributed to having less money and lower living standards than others of the same society (European Anti-Poverty Network, 2009). Child poverty is a direct result of adult poverty (Poverties.org, 2011-2012) however unlike and adult, the experience of poverty for a child can effect later life drastically. In April 2011, there were 13 million people in the UK living below the poverty line, this included 3.6 million children (Department for Work and Pensions, 2011), and these numbers are expected to rise further (Child Poverty action Group, 2000-2012). This type of poverty does not discriminate, it is a direct result of inadequate resources.

In the UK, particularly in England and Wales, children’s life chances are determined by the economic status of the families into which they are a part of. Children from poor households are more likely to suffer the consequences of their families’ condition. They will have to endure the stigma of poverty in a profoundly lopsided society where the socioeconomic standing of individuals is determined by their capacity to buy. These poor children also have less access to quality educational opportunities (Welbourne, 2012). Furthermore, children living in poverty at present are likely to remain poor for the rest of their lives because of intergenerational cycles of poverty

In the introduction of this essay we will be looking at ‘what is child poverty?’ Poverty is often associated with the third world and developing countries where death from starvation and disease is the outcome. This kind of poverty is rarely seen in the UK though. Child poverty is unfortunately a result of adult poverty with Child poverty having lifelong consequences. There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today, that’s 27 per cent of children or more than one in four (department for work and pensions, 2013.) Poverty in the UK is about a lack of resources, lack of capital both income and wealth. But it can also be resource poor such as; education and good health

Children account for nearly half of the world’s extreme poor and yet over nine hundred million people, one in seven people, are still living in extreme poverty. Many are kids. The latest survey conveyed by the UNICEF organisation,

In the last 30 years, there has been increase in child poverty in the Britain.1 We, as a community, should do as much as we can to help in removing child poverty.

Child poverty is children that fail to meet the minimum acceptable standard of living this applies to children that come from poor families or orphans being raised with limited, or in some cases no income at all. “For many families, it is very difficult to get out of poverty. There is not enough money to feed the children, clothe them properly, or even enough money to pay for the bus fare or to look for a job” says Grant Wilson, President of Canadian Children’s Rights Council. It is even harder for new Canadian children and aboriginal families as they are at a greater risk of living in poverty.

For the purpose of this essay I am going to be discussing how social policy and legislation with regards to poverty in the UK has evolved and the effect it has had on children and their families. There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today, 27 per cent of children (Department for Work and Pensions, 2013). According to Mayer (1997), poor homes tend to have overcrowding, lack electrical outlets and less likely to have central heating. The level of cognitive stimulation is another element, which can be affected by lack of financial resources and poverty (Guo & Harris, 2000). This essay will now focus on five key acts these are; the poor law, National assistance act, the Sure Start programme, the child poverty act

have to choose between heating in the house or eating as they struggle on less than £15,000 per year. The government are set to lift children out of poverty by 2020 by lifting 100,000 children out of poverty each year for the next ten years. In ‘how to break the cycle of poverty’, it says the government must ensure those at work are not being paid below the poverty line and increasing the minimum wage. They should also see all unemployed parents get into a job to help with quality childcare, such as nursery or schools and training.

Child poverty in Britain affects an increasing number of families; the most recent statistics from 2014-2015 show that poverty affects 1 in 4 children in the UK today1. The cause of child poverty has many contributing factors and creates multiple issues for the individuals affected. Child poverty in Britain is much different than the television adverts that show the awful living conditions of children in third world countries, however still has devastating outcomes for those experiencing poverty. Our standard of living is much different and therefore we must compare poverty in Britain to the living standards that we are accustomed to in society today; this concept was introduced by sociologist Peter Townsend in 1979 who defined poverty as; ‘Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies in which they belong.’ 2

When the average person, who lives in the UK, thinks about child poverty, the first picture, which comes to their mind is some extremely poor country in the middle of Africa, where families live to survive on a daily basis. Meanwhile, here, in the UK, nearly four million children, which makes 30 per cent of the whole child population, are living in poverty (End Child Poverty, 2014).

The impact of child poverty on a child 's life when the family income is so low can plunge the family in to debt just for paying for the basic necessities such as heating, food and clothing. However, education is another area of serious concern which shows that children in poverty are denied educational and social activities within schools (End-poverty ). Furthermore housing has become the biggest threat to the well-being of children whilst being affected by poverty. Going without essentials, living in houses that are in a poor state of repair, and having no area to play and socialise can effectively cause long term health problems such as disabilities alongside emotional and behavioural problems (Natcen 2010).

Prior to New Labour’s promise to tackle child poverty, the figure of poverty in relative terms amongst children was estimated to be 4.3 million (Baldock, Mitton, Manning, & Vickerstaff, 2012, p.90). New Labour promised to half this amount

Children whose parents are having uneven income do not get decent nourishment as well as education. It is well documented that children of such families are also more likely to have adverse outcomes in other phases of their life. This contains low educational achievement, poor physical and mental health, and susceptibility to take up substance abuse and crime. On the other hand, there are currently several government policies meant to address the social impacts of child poverty, for example the Children’s Action Plan which aims to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and the Better Public Service

Leading to serious matters of social exclusion and social immobility are the unresolved and unsupported social problems children face, for example: teenage pregnancies, drugs misuse, alcoholism and poor physical and mental health (Walraven et al, 2000). One of the biggest and most impactful social issues children face, is the case of child poverty. With over 3.5 million children in the UK living in poverty and 1.6 of those living in especially detrimental conditions, it is crucial that aid and support is being provided to improve the standard of living of these children; in terms of health, education and their day to day lives (Barnardo’s, 2014). Without giving children the support they need to tackle their issues, they can become excluded from society for being socially, culturally and economically unstable. These negative images will only worsen their chances at progressing up the social ladder. So what social policies and schemes are in place to tackle the issue of child poverty?