child poverty uk essay

The impact of poverty on early childhood

For most parents, bringing a baby into the world and nurturing a young child brings both great joy and intense love, but it also comes with many changes, and sometimes stress, pressure and anxiety. Those pressures and stresses are likely to be much greater for families who are struggling to make ends meet.  In the UK today, more than one in four families with a child under five are living in poverty .  

Experiencing poverty can cause harm at any age, but particularly for the youngest children. This is when the foundations for their physical, emotional and social development are being laid. A substantial body of research shows that family poverty is associated with and can cause poorer academic attainment and social and emotional development. Perhaps not surprisingly, poverty can be highly detrimental if it is persistent, experienced in the first three years of life and combined with other disadvantages. Given this, addressing early childhood poverty is a vital part of the jigsaw of support needed to enable young children to flourish.

The harm that poverty can inflict begins during pregnancy and is shaped by the health and well-being of parents and their socio-economic status. Gaps in development between disadvantaged and advantaged children emerge very early on. Poverty impacts are also not the same for everyone and are further compounded by inequalities in relation to parents’ ethnicity, health and economic status. By the time a child reaches 11 months there are gaps in communication and language skills, and by the age of three inequalities in children’s cognitive and social and emotional skills are evident. A large body of analysis shows how these early disadvantages can go on to affect children’s development in later life.

Importantly, this is not to say that economic disadvantage inevitably leads to poor long-term outcomes; other factors – family circumstances, wider family support, social networks and connections, educational resources and public services - all play a vital role and can mitigate the effects of poverty.

Younger children are more likely to be in poverty than other groups 

Poverty here is defined as not having enough material resources such as money, housing, or food to meet the minimum needs - both material and social – in today’s society. While there have been some key changes over the last two decades, there is one constant – children are markedly more likely to experience poverty than adults or pensioners and it is younger children who are most at risk .

This is the result of a combination of factors including the costs of children and that households with younger children are less likely to have two parents in full-time work parents. The latest figures show that there are some 4.2 million children living in poverty in the UK, a rise of 600,000 over the last decade.

Most worryingly deep poverty has been rising, particularly affecting lone parents, large families, and people living in families with a disabled person. The Runnymede Trust found that Black and minority ethnic people are currently 2.2 times more likely to be in deep poverty than white people, with Bangladeshi people more than three times more likely.  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report on Destitution in the UK 202 3 found that over 1 million children had experienced destitution at some point over 2022.

Poverty affects children’s material, social, educational and emotional well-being

Poverty affects young children’s experiences directly. Parents have less money to meet children’s material and social needs. The sharply rising costs of providing the basic essentials – food, warmth, lighting, housing costs, nappies, baby food, clothing - has created acute pressure for many families. Drawing on a survey of their service users, in 2022 Barnardo’s reported that 30% of parents said their child’s mental health had worsened in the previous four months, 16% said their child/ren had to share a bed with them or a sibling, and 30% were concerned about losing their home/being made homeless.

Recent research (Ruth Patrick et al. 2023 ) looked at the effects of benefit changes on larger families. It shows the many hardships that families are dealing with, the inability to meet their children’s needs and the stress and worry they feel as a result. But it also shows the resilience, strength and skills they employ to give their children the best possible life in the circumstances. Families spoke about the sheer amount of time it takes to manage on a very tight budget and its direct impact on children – from missing bath time to reading a bedtime story. This is affecting children’s educational outcomes. 95% of teachers surveyed by Kindred Squared believe that the cost-of-living crisis is going to impact school readiness next year.

Poverty gets under your skin; it takes a toll on the mental health of mothers, fathers, and wider family. The Family Stress Model, underpinned by research, shows the way in which economic stress - poverty, hardship, debt - creates psychological distress, lack of control and feelings of stigma. Not surprisingly, these stresses affect family relationships, both between parents and with children. Hardship, debt, deprivation and ‘feeling poor’ is linked to poorer maternal mental health and lower life satisfaction and this can make it more difficult to find the mental space to be an attentive and responsive parent. This in turn can affect young children’s social and emotional development and outcomes.

What can we do?

Explaining how poverty affects young children’s well-being and outcomes is important when it comes to developing effective responses: addressing poverty and hardship directly, supporting parents’, especially mothers’, mental health, and providing support for parenting.

The research also helps identify the protective factors that help to reduce the detrimental impact of poverty: wider family and neighbourhood support, good maternal and paternal mental health, access to high quality early education, warm parent-child interaction and financial and housing stability.

Early years professionals, health visitors, family support workers and many others are in the front line of the difficulties that families with young children are facing. They are responding to the legacy of the Covid pandemic and the rise in cost of living, working across service boundaries and in new ways, despite budgetary pressures.

Local services are working to meet the needs of families with young children in the round – including support for maternal mental health, parental conflict, parenting and the home learning environment. There are many voluntary initiatives, such as Save the Children’s Building Blocks, which combines giving grants to reduce the impact of material deprivation with supporting parents to play and learn with their children at home, initiatives to use local authority data to increase the take-up of benefit entitlements, and thebaby bank network, providing essential products and equipment as well as practical support for parents who are struggling.

Tackling early childhood poverty rests both on public policy which takes a holistic and joined up approach, as well as action at local level, whether that’s through local authorities, early years services in health and education, local businesses and community and voluntary initiatives.

In the Nuffield Foundation’s Changing Face of Early Childhood , we set out some core principles to address early childhood poverty including:

A multi-dimensional approach that reflects the range of socioeconomic risks and intersecting needs faced by families with young children.

Money matters - a financial bedrock for families with young children living on a low income, through improved social security benefits and access to employment, which takes account of the care needs of the under-fives.

Greater attention and investment in policies to support parental mental health and parenting from the earliest stage of a child’s life.

A more coherent, joined up and effective approach to early childhood would help to address the inequalities between children by supporting them early on in life and establishing deep roots from which they can grow and flourish.

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• Volume 101, Issue 8
• Poverty and child health in the UK: using evidence for action
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• Sophie Wickham 1 ,
• Elspeth Anwar 1 ,
• Ben Barr 1 ,
• Catherine Law 2 ,
• David Taylor-Robinson 1 , 2
• 1 Department of Public Health and Policy , University of Liverpool , Liverpool , UK
• 2 Institute of Child Health, University College London , London , UK
• Correspondence to Dr David Taylor-Robinson, Department of Public Health and Policy, Whelan Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK; David.Taylor-Robinson{at}liverpool.ac.uk

There are currently high levels of child poverty in the UK, and for the first time in almost two decades child poverty has started to rise in absolute terms. Child poverty is associated with a wide range of health-damaging impacts, negative educational outcomes and adverse long-term social and psychological outcomes. The poor health associated with child poverty limits children's potential and development, leading to poor health and life chances in adulthood. This article outlines some key definitions with regard to child poverty, reviews the links between child poverty and a range of health, developmental, behavioural and social outcomes for children, describes gaps in the evidence base and provides an overview of current policies relevant to child poverty in the UK. Finally, the article outlines how child health professionals can take action by (1) supporting policies to reduce child poverty, (2) providing services that reduce the health consequences of child poverty and (3) measuring and understanding the problem and assessing the impact of action.

• Children's Rights
• Child poverty
• Health inequalities
• Child health professionals

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306746

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Introduction

The latest figures suggest that in 2013–2014 there were 3.7 million children living in poverty in the UK—3 in every 10 children. 1 Furthermore, levels of child poverty are rising. For the first time in almost two decades, child poverty in the UK increased in absolute terms in 2011–2012. 2

Higher levels of child poverty are associated with worse child health outcomes. Children growing up in poverty in the UK experience a wide range of adverse child health and developmental outcomes, and are more likely to develop chronic conditions in childhood compared with more affluent children. 3 It has been estimated that eliminating child poverty in the UK would save the lives of 1400 children under 15 years of age annually. 4 Furthermore, the consequences of child poverty cost the UK economy £29 billion a year in 2013, up from £25 billion in 2008. 5

The high level of poverty found in the UK is associated with many negative child health outcomes. 6 For example, childhood mortality (aged 0–14) in the UK is significantly higher than similar countries in Europe. 7 In children under five, the UK mortality rate is the highest in Western Europe, double that of Sweden. 8 Figure 1 further shows that countries with a higher proportion of children living in relative poverty (below 60% median income) have higher infant mortality rates.

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Child poverty and infant mortality in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Child poverty data are taken from EUROMOD figures, and infant mortality is taken from UNICEF (2014). EUROMOD, a European benefit-tax model and social integration.

To assist child health professionals to engage in the debate about child poverty, here we outline some key definitions, review the links between child poverty and a range of health, developmental, behavioural and social outcomes for children, 9 and provide an overview of current policies relevant to child poverty in the UK. Finally, we assess what further actions need to be taken and describe the important role that child health professionals can play.

What is child poverty?

The theoretical underpinnings of ‘poverty’, how it is defined and measured are important as these concepts influence the strategies and policies chosen to address poverty. In 1979, Peter Townsend 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. (ref. 10 , p. 31)

This conception of poverty as being relative (rather than absolute) to a particular context recognises that standards of living change over time. The most widely used measure of relative poverty within the European Union is the proportion of individuals with household incomes less than a particular proportion of the current median of that population. For the purposes of international comparisons, UNICEF use a cut-off of 50%, whereas in the UK relative poverty is generally calculated as <60% of the median. 11 , 12 By contrast, absolute poverty is measured against a static threshold that only rises with inflation, even if society is becoming more or less prosperous. This measure indicates individuals living in poverty getting better or worse off in absolute terms. 12 In practical terms, living on an income of <60% of the median means that many families struggle to meet basic needs like food, heating, transport, clothing and the extra costs of schooling like equipment and school trips. 13

Being in receipt of income-related welfare benefits has also been used as a measure of poverty. In the UK, this can include being the recipient of income support, job seekers allowance, housing benefits, council tax benefits or working tax credit and child tax credit. Free school meal eligibility is a statutory benefit available to school-aged children from families who receive other qualifying benefits and is widely used as a measure of childhood disadvantage related to poverty, especially in educational analyses. 14 This is often used as an area based measure, like the income deprivation affecting children index, which is the percentage of children aged 0–15 living in income-deprived households on the basis of receipt of various welfare benefits. 15 Objective and subjective measures of material deprivation relating to lack of resources available to individuals that society deem important have also been used as child poverty measures. Subjective measures may include factors such as the extent to which children have birthday celebrations, appropriate clothes for all weather, holidays and parents with access to a car. In general, researchers have found similar patterns of association of poverty with child health outcomes whichever measure of poverty is used. 16

Children can move in and out of poverty over the course of their lives. In the Millennium Cohort Study, a representative sample of children from the UK born in 2001, about half (47%) of children experienced relative poverty one or more times between the age of 9 months and 11 years, and 9% of children experienced persistent poverty (in all five waves of the study; S Wickham, E Anwar, B Barr, et al . Unpublished data: experiences of poverty in the UK Millennium Cohort Study).

Health and social consequences of child poverty

Children living in poverty in the UK are more likely to: 9

die in the first year of life

be born small

be bottle fed

breathe secondhand smoke

become overweight

suffer from asthma

have tooth decay

perform poorly at school

die in an accident

Even for children with genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis with no socio-economic bias in incidence, poorer children experience poorer outcomes, including worse growth, poorer lung function, higher risk of Pseudomonas infection, worse employment opportunities and ultimately poorer survival. 17 , 18 Figure 2 shows the association between levels of child poverty and a range of child health outcomes in local authorities in England. 19

Child poverty and percentage of children seriously injured or killed in a road accident; obese at reception age; admitted to hospital with a mental health condition and infant mortality in Local Authorities in the UK. The size of the dot is proportional to population of each local authority. Data are from Public Health England (2015).

There has been some debate about the extent to which the relationship between poverty and health outcomes for children is causal or attributable to other factors. However, a recent systematic review of the literature concluded that a family's income makes a significant difference to children's outcomes: poorer children have worse cognitive, social-behavioural and health outcomes in part because they live in households with low incomes. This relationship was found to be independent of other factors that have been found to be correlated with child poverty (eg, household and parental characteristics). 20 The review suggested that out of the 34 studies only 5 found no effect of child poverty on the various outcomes; this was mainly due to their methodological limitations. 20 The authors highlight that longer durations of child poverty have a more severe effect on children's outcomes than short-term experiences of poverty.

Alongside these health-damaging impacts, living in poverty is associated with negative educational outcomes and adverse long-term social outcomes. Child poverty impacts on children's school readiness: by age five, children from the poorest fifth of homes in the UK are already on average over a year behind their expected years of development. 21 By age 11, only three-quarters of the poorest children reach the government’s Key Stage 2 levels compared with 97% of children from the richest families. 22 Only 21% of children from the poorest quintile, measured by parental socio-economic position, attain five good General Certificate of Secondary Education (grades A*– C) compared with 75% for their rich counterparts. 22 Recent evidence suggests that child poverty is associated with structural differences in several areas of brain development, and this may account for the differences in academic achivements. 23 Two recent studies from the USA show how child poverty influences the development of specific areas of the brain that are critical for the development of language, executive functions and memory. 23 , 24 This then impacts education prospects, job opportunities and future lifestyle choices. 25

We know from longitudinal studies that children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances have a higher risk of death in adulthood across almost all conditions that have been studied, including mortality from stomach cancer, lung cancer, haemorrhagic stroke, coronary heart disease and respiratory-related deaths, accidents and alcohol-related causes of death. 26 , 27 These studies demonstrate that exposure to child poverty is a critical issue not just for child health, but also for adult health. Though the focus of this paper is on poverty, there is a social gradient in many of the health outcomes listed above, with greater social disadvantage leading to greater health impacts. This is powerful evidence that social and economic conditions do not just affect poor children but exert their influence across the entire social spectrum. 9 , 28 This has profound policy implications as the effect of policies on child poverty are then multiplied across children’s life courses. As children's lives unfold, the poor health associated with poverty limits their potential and development across a whole range of areas, leading to poor health and life chances in adulthood, which then has knock-on effects on future generations. 29

Research gaps

That poverty is bad for child health is not in doubt. What is unclear is how and when social disadvantage leads to ill health, that is, how it ‘gets under the skin’. Poverty has been highlighted as the most important social determinant of child health in high-income countries. 6 , 30 But poverty is likely to be the cause of wide-ranging effects on health exerted through a myriad of biological, behavioural, environmental and psychosocial mechanisms that are still not well understood. 8 Poor health outcomes might be the result of cumulative exposure to disadvantage, 31 or exposure during sensitive or critical periods, or both of these. 28 For example, Seguin and colleagues have identified the importance of chronic cumulative poverty for outcomes such as asthma 32 and obesity. 33 Furthermore, poor health, particularly during critical periods of childhood and adolescence, may limit future development with subsequent effects on social position and health later in life. 25 A better understanding is needed of the specific pathways through which exposure to adverse childhood socio-economic circumstances, and particularly poverty, affect specific health and social outcomes in particular conditions and contexts. 6 , 20 , 34 Elucidating the mediating components of pathways will help identify times and circumstances that are amenable to intervention.

Cross-national comparisons may yield useful information in order to explain both the differences in child poverty rates in rich countries seen in figure 1 and how any policy differences impact on child health and well-being. 11 Strategies to reduce child poverty and the consequences of child poverty generally involve three key components—early childhood education and care, income redistribution through the benefit and tax systems, and policies to increase the employment chances and wages of families living in poverty. 35 While there is evidence that all three components are likely to be effective at reducing child poverty, less is known about whether some approaches are more likely to lead to greater health benefits than others. Further investigation is needed into the interaction between different policy approaches and the determinants of child health in order to prioritise policies that are likely to have the greatest impact not only on child poverty but also on child health.

What is the UK currently doing about child poverty?

Uk policy on child poverty.

1999: Ending Child Poverty by 2020 : In 1999, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair made a commitment to halve child poverty by 2010 and eliminate child poverty by 2020. After many years of being a neglected issue, child poverty was on the political agenda.

Key actions to reduce child poverty included getting parents into work and a more progressive tax and benefits system (especially to those targeted at children such as child benefit and child tax credit).

2010: The Child Poverty Act was passed with cross-party support. The Act enshrined the child poverty promise in law and required the government to produce a national Child Poverty Strategy. The coalition government, elected in May 2010, pledged to maintain the goal of ending child poverty in the UK by 2020.

Although relative poverty fell substantially in the decade after the 1999 Tony Blair pledge to end child poverty, from 3.4 million children then to 2.6 million children, the 2010 child poverty targets were missed. Critics argued that not enough parents moved into work, and work did not pay as well as it should. The proportion of poor children who came from working households increased.

2011: A new approach to child poverty: tackling the causes of disadvantage and transforming families’ lives 2011–2014 was published to fulfil the obligations under the Child Poverty Act 2010 to set out plans for tackling child poverty. It provided a framework for ending child poverty by 2020.

2014: The child poverty strategy, 2014 to 2017 was published with two main aims to engineer a shift away from supporting families through income transfers towards tackling the root causes of poverty by enabling more parents to enter work and earn more. Second, to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty through raising the attainment of poor children so that they will be better off as adults.

The strategy was criticised by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission for falling far short of what is needed and a missed opportunity to get back on track towards meeting its legal obligation to end child poverty by 2020. After a decade of falling levels, independent projections from both the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the New Policy Institute (NPI) suggested that child poverty will increase by 2020.

2015: The Welfare Reform and Work Bill removes the government's duty to end child poverty by 2020 and changes the target for child poverty in the UK, moving away from a measure based on income to focusing on the ‘root causes’ of poverty such as unemployment and family breakdown.

There is concern that many of the proposed changes in the Bill will either push more children into poverty or limit the government's ability to properly monitor levels of child poverty across the UK. In particular, the income cap and changes to tax credits have also been strongly criticised for negatively affecting families with young children.

New definition of child poverty has also been criticised for having a moral and judgemental dimension. As there has also been an increase in the proportion of children in poverty living in a working family, critics argue that reporting on a measure focused on children in workless households will not get to the heart of understanding child poverty in the UK.

Trends in relative child poverty over time using data from Housing Below Average Income statistics.

The current UK government has now abolished the Child Poverty Act and with it the target to eliminate child poverty by 2020. Alongside removing these targets, there has been a shift in how the UK government plans to measure child poverty from a focus on income-based indicators to factors related to ‘family breakdown, debt and addiction’ 37 outcomes that conflate the consequences of child poverty, with the cause—a lack of material resources. 38

Recent analyses of current policies implemented in the UK in response to the economic crisis show that children are among the groups being hit hardest. 39 We know that family incomes have fallen considerably during the recent economic downturn and have continued to decline as other economic indicators improve. 40 Children's services are being disproportionately hit by current austerity measures, with early years budgets facing significant cuts. 41

In the Summer Budget 2015, the chancellor announced more cuts to the welfare system to take the UK from a ‘low wage, high tax, high welfare economy’ to a ‘higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare country’. 41 A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation analysis shows that it is poor children who are going to be hit hardest by these changes, 42 with lone parents and families with children who depend on welfare support seeing their incomes significantly reduced. Although the controversial proposal to cut child tax credits was recently scrapped in the Chancellor's Autumn budget, these cuts will still be introduced later with the replacement of tax credits with a new system—Universal Credit. 43 The government has argued that these cuts to in-work welfare benefits will be offset by the introduction of a higher minimum wage—referred to as a National Living Wage (NLW). The latest analyses, however, suggest that lone parents will still lose out, and for couples with children, both will have to work full time on the NLW to get close to a decent standard of living. 43

What needs to be done?

What child health professionals can do (both as individuals and as providers of health services).

All children have a right to the best possible health, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UK government, therefore, has a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that all children develop to their full potential. Based on recommendations made by the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, there are a number of ways that, as individuals or collectively, child health professionals should take action on the social determinants of health and reduce child poverty. 44 , 45

Support policies to reduce child poverty

Child health professionals and their professional associations can advocate for policy action on the social determinants that support parents’ capacity and ability to care for children. 46 We need child health professionals to advocate for more equitable welfare reforms, with the test that they must protect children as the most vulnerable members of our society. 2 This will include labour market, tax and transfer polices that aim to lift all families with children out of poverty.

We propose advocacy for policies that: 28

provide sufficient income support for an adequate quality of life for all families with children;

provide affordable housing;

provide affordable, high-quality early years childcare;

provide affordable public transport;

provide better social security support for families caring for children with chronic illness;

prioritise active labour market programmes to achieve timely interventions to reduce long-term unemployment;

tackle in-work poverty, through the introduction of a true living wage;

support parents into employment in order to maximise household incomes.

Provide services that reduce the health consequences of child poverty

In order to reduce the consequences of poverty, a commitment to universal services and a focus on proportionate universalism (services provided to everyone, but with a scale and intensity that is proportionate to the level of need) that supports all children, particularly in the early years, is a critical and cost-effective investment, and these services should be protected. 47 The Healthy Child Programme, for example, is based on a model of ‘proportionate universalism’. 48

Some of the key actions recommended in the Marmot review 28 and Field 49 include:

protecting investment in early years services;

shifting expenditure towards the early years wherever possible;

providing high-quality and consistent support and services for parents during pregnancy;

provision of high-quality universal services in childhood;

routine support to families through parenting programmes, children's centres and key workers, delivered to meet social needs;

providing support so that all children can access a healthy diet in the early years;

providing high-quality home visiting services;

focusing on narrowing the educational attainment gap at all stages.

It is vital to take a whole family approach to the care of children, with appropriate involvement of the full range of social services support available to families living in disadvantaged circumstances that may help to mitigate some of the effects of poverty. Child health professionals need to speak up for their patients within management settings. At a community level, they need to advocate for a greater connectivity between general practitioner practices, hospitals, schools, community centres, benefit services and sure start centres to support parents to access all the benefits and services they are entitled to and work to reduce any stigma associated with using these services. 42

Measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action

Child health professionals have a key role in conducting high-quality research investigating the links between child poverty and health and investigating the impact of changes to service provision on health inequalities. This is a critical moment for children and families in the UK, facing changes to preventative services in the community at the same time as levels of child poverty increase. Important changes include the transfer of public health commissioning duties to local authorities (eg, the Health Visitor Implementation Programme) and the impact of cut backs to the role of children's centres in delivering the early years agenda. 50 There is a clear need for a better understanding of the impacts of changes to services on the most disadvantaged, improved data and monitoring at an individual and population level. 2

Conclusions

A wealth of evidence demonstrates the toxic impact of child poverty: in physical changes in brain structure and poor health and life chances. Child poverty is rising, and the UK government has abolished plans to attempt to eradicate it. Child health professionals need to act as advocates for more equitable welfare reform in order to protect the most vulnerable in society. Children are often not in a position to speak out for themselves and for this reason are offered special protection under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 51 The arguments here are not just about the evidence. Reducing poverty and its impacts on children is morally and legally the right thing to do.

• ↵ Department for Work and Pensions . Households Below Average Income, An analysis of the income distribution 1994/95–2013/14, Tables 4a and 4b . 2015 . https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-19941995-to-20132014
• Taylor-Robinson D ,
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• ↵ UNICEF . Child well-being in rich countries. A comparative overview. Innocenti Report Card 11 . Florence , 2013 . http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc11_eng.pdf
• ↵ Child Poverty Action Group . End child poverty: child poverty map of the UK . 2012 . http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/images/ecp/130212 ECP local report final(1).pdf
• Kounali D ,
• Robinson T ,
• Goldstein H , et al
• ↵ Department for Communities and Local Government . The English indices of deprivation 2015: Technical report . 2015 . https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015-technical-report
• Bradshaw JR ,
• Diggle PJ , et al
• ↵ Public Health England . Children and young people's health benchmarking tool . National Child and Maternal Health Intelligence Network, Public Health England. 2015 . http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/cyphof
• Waldfogel J ,
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• Goodman A ,
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• MacInnes T ,
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• ↵ The Guardian . Editorial: The Guardian view on the budget: low tax, low welfare, high pay—but also higher poverty . The Guardian 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/08/the-guardian-view-on-the-budget-low-tax-low-welfare-high-pay-but-also-higher-poverty
• Schmuecker K
• ↵ British Medical Association . Social Determinants of Health—What Doctors Can Do . 2011 . http://www.bma.org.uk/search?query=Social%20determinants%20of%20health
• Bell R , et al
• Brinkman S , et al
• Higgerson J ,
• Anwar E , et al
• ↵ The Department of Health . Healthy child programme: Pregnancy and the first five years of life . 2009 . https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-child-programme-pregnancy-and-the-first-5-years-of-life
• ↵ Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health . Making the UK's child health outcomes comparable to the best in the world A vision for 2015 . 2015 . http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/system/files/protected/page/RCPCH%20Child%20Health%20Manifesto%20WEB_0.pdf
• ↵ UNICEF . The United Nations convention on the rights of the child . 2004 . http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/UNCRC_PRESS200910web.pdf

Contributors All authors contributed to literature interpretation, manuscript drafting and revisions. All authors agreed the submitted version of the manuscript.

Funding Research at the UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children receives a proportion of the funding from the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme.

Competing interests DT-R, SW and BB are supported by a Wellcome Trust small grant (ref number: WT108538AIA). BB is supported by a National Institute of Health Research fellowship.

Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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Changing patterns of poverty in early childhood

Series: The changing face of early childhood in Britain Authors: Carey Oppenheim

More than one in three children in families with a child under five are living in poverty – a barometer of social injustice in the UK today. This review, the third in our series, sets out to explore the changing patterns of poverty, in particular for young children under five, over the last two decades.

We highlight key insights from work the Nuffield Foundation has funded and explore the implications of current changes, including the impact of COVID-19, on young children’s lives. We set these new insights in the context of existing evidence and highlight connections and tensions, as well as gaps and uncertainties.

Series The changing face of early childhood in Britain

Poverty and its changing nature are an essential lens through which to understand early childhood. At 36%, the rate of poverty among families where the youngest child is under five is high—and increasing (DWP 2021). In this review, we undertake original data analysis to illuminate patterns of poverty in families with a young child. 

Experiencing poverty at the start of life and in early childhood can be highly damaging, with potentially profound effects on children’s long-term well-being and opportunities. The causes, patterns, and solutions to poverty have become more complex and interlinked over the last two decades. Disruptive forces, such as a rapidly changing economy and labour market, increasing levels of in‑work poverty, more complex family structures, structural inequalities between ethnic groups, and differences by place have changed the contexts in which young children are growing up, as well as their life chances. 

Poverty is about both economic disadvantage and the tangled pressures that can influence the responses and behaviours of those caught within it. Family life has become more complex —economically, socially, culturally— and more unequal. Policy responses, if they are to be durable, need to reflect the combined effects of these different factors on young children’s lives.

Age and number of children

• Child poverty rates for families where the youngest child is under five are higher than for those with older children, reflecting the fact that they tend to be larger families with higher needs and lower levels of employment.
• In 2019/20, of all families with young children in poverty, over 54% had three or more children compared to less than 14% for single child families.
• This increased risk of poverty for larger families reflects the impact of social security changes including the ‘two-child’ limit that restricts the child element of social security benefits to the first two children in a family (born after 2017) and the abolition of the family element of child tax credits.

Employment and family status

• Children in working families account for an increasing share of all children in poverty, due both to population changes and the decline in unemployment. Since 1999/2000, the risk of poverty for families with the youngest child under five and at least one adult in full-time work has increased by 16%.
• Since 2013/14, the risk of poverty for part-time working families has increased 26 percentage points to a level almost matching unemployed families.
• There is a much higher risk of poverty for children living in lone parent families where the youngest child is under five (57%) compared to those whose parents are married or in civil partnerships (28%) or cohabiting (38%).
• While the risk of poverty for children in lone parent families remains high and has been rising in recent years, there has been an overall decrease over the last two decades, from a high of 75% in 2000/01, reflecting an increase in the proportion moving into paid work.
• For children living in families with at least one child under five, there is a distinct gap between poverty rates for young children growing up in White, Indian and Chinese families, which stood at around 30%, and most other ethnic groups, which often exceed 50%. These higher rates of child poverty partly reflect the younger age profile of some ethnic minority groups, but also structural inequalities and discrimination.
• The fact that nearly three in four children (71%) from Bangladeshi backgrounds face poverty, and more than one in two in some other ethnic minority groups, is an urgent issue for policy makers to address.

Regional differences across the UK

• Child poverty in families where the youngest child is under five are higher in England and Wales (35% and 34%) than in Scotland (28%) and Northern Ireland (27%).
• Within England, the North East has the highest rate of early childhood poverty (46%), followed by London (41%). Rates are lowest in the South West (29%). In the South East and East of England, early childhood poverty is slightly higher now than it was 20 years ago.
• Since 2013/14, child poverty rates have been on the rise in some parts of the country. Child poverty rates in Middlesbrough, Birmingham and Manchester now stand at over 40% of all children, compared to 30% across the UK as a whole.

Impact of COVID-19

• COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequalities for those in the poorest 10% of earnings distribution, some ethnic minority groups and children facing food insecurity.
• The pandemic has also put a spotlight on unequal housing and living conditions, with one in five children from a low-income household living in overcrowded housing during the spring 2020 lockdown compared to 3% in high-income households.
• It is not yet clear whether COVID-19 will be one element in the early life of the current group of under-fives or the defining factor in those children’s lives and beyond.

How should we address early childhood poverty?

Tackling early childhood poverty requires six key elements:

• A multi-dimensional approach that reflects the range of socioeconomic risks and intersecting needs faced by families with young children.
• A financial bedrock for families with young children living on a low income, through improved social security benefits and access to employment, which takes account of the care needs of the under-fives.
• Greater attention and investment in policies to support parental mental health and parenting from the earliest stage of a child’s life.
• Harnessing effective national and local approaches to address concentrations of poverty and deprivation.
• A better understanding of the relative effectiveness (and costs) of different policies in improving children’s outcomes over the medium and longer terms.
• Developing a greater consensus, not only across political divides, but also at a societal level, on the measures and investment required to address child poverty now and in the future.

Explore the data

Explore the key data trends from the Changing patterns of poverty in early childhood review.

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The IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities

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The changing face of early childhood in Britain

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Ending child poverty: 20 years on

To mark the original 2020 deadline for ending child poverty in the UK, UNISON is proud to have produced a collection of essays on where we are now, and what we need to do next to help eradicate child poverty in the UK.

Eradicating child poverty was rightly at the forefront of Labour policy in 1997 and its pledge to end child poverty by 2020 was universally welcomed.

To mark the original 2020 deadline for ending child poverty in the UK, UNISON is proud to have produced a collection of essays by leading researchers and policy leads on where we are now and what we need to do next to help eradicate child poverty in the UK.

View the collection of essays here

UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “Child Poverty is a blight on our wealthy nation – it affects the life chances of the very foundation of our society.

“At this time more than any in recent history we see the vital need to address inequality of all kinds so we can all weather the shocks and trials thrown at us on an equal footing.

“UNISON is proud to have produced this timely booklet looking at what still needs to be done in this vital area.”

The most recent statistics show that there were  4.1 million children  living in poverty in the UK in 2017-18. That’s 30 per cent of children, or  nine in a classroom of 30 .

The last Labour government cut child poverty on a scale and at a pace unmatched by other industrial nations during the period 1998–2010.

But those gains now seem hopelessly off track in the face of the Conservative led coalition government abandoning the Child Poverty Act soon after entering office, and then spending ten years pursuing an austerity agenda which has consistently impacted children.

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This study measures the extent to which growing up in poverty makes children more likely to be poor as adults. It compares teenagers from the 1970s with those from the 1980s. Undertaken by Jo Blanden and Steve Gibbons of the Centre for Economic Performance at the LSE, the study finds:

• Poverty persists across the lifecycle. Living in poverty at age 16 increases the chances of living in poverty in the early thirties.
• The persistence of poverty from the teens into the early thirties has risen over time, with teenage poverty having a greater impact on later outcomes for teenagers in the 1980s compared with teenagers in the 1970s. The link between poverty in teenhood and adulthood continues through to age 42, regardless of whether or not a person is recorded as poor in their thirties.
• Many of the negative effects of teenage poverty are a consequence of other characteristics of disadvantage, such as low parental education, unemployment and poor neighbourhoods, rather than poverty itself.
• For those who were teenagers in the 1980s, these disadvantages are more likely to lead to the individual being a poor adult. This partly explains the increased persistence of poverty found, but poverty itself plays a bigger role over and above these characteristics.
• Poverty in adulthood is associated with low education, lack of employment and employment experience and, for women, single parenthood.
• Earlier disadvantage is associated with all of these later outcomes. However, the rising relationship between poverty across generations cannot be explained by just a couple of these factors; all are important. The persistence of poverty is complex; responses will need to be multi-faceted, long-term and joined up.
• The researchers conclude that eliminating child poverty will, on its own, have a limited role in improving outcomes for children growing up in poverty. While it might have had some beneficial effects among those who were teenagers in the 1980s, ending income poverty will not be sufficient unless the other characteristics of disadvantage are also addressed.

This study examines the magnitude of the link between child poverty and poverty later in adult life using members of two cohorts from two national datasets, one group in their teens in the 1970s and the other in their teens in the 1980s.

The study looks at the following questions:

• How great an impact does living in a poor family as a teenager have on the chances of living in poverty in the early thirties?
• How much has this impact changed between the two cohorts that were teenagers in the 1970s and the 1980s?
• How far do other characteristics at age 16 and in adulthood explain these links?

How far do the effects of early disadvantage continue to be felt as individuals reach middle age (42 for those who were teenagers in the 1970s)?

The size of the link between poverty across generations

The study finds evidence of a significant persistence of poverty from teenhood to the early thirties. This persistence is measured by comparing the chances (or ‘odds’) of being poor if one’s parents are poor with the chances of being poor if they are not (the ‘odds ratio’).

Of those who were teenagers in the 1970s:

• For those whose families were poor when they were 16, 19 per cent of those with poor parents are poor and 81 per cent are not. Individuals are four times more likely to be non-poor than poor in their early thirties.
• For those with parents who are not poor, 90 per cent are not poor in later life while 10 per cent are poor. In this case, individuals are nine times more likely to be non-poor than poor if their parents were non-poor.

Calculations based on the odds ratio find that, for those who were teenagers in the 1970s, the chances of being poor as an adult double if they were poor as a teenager. Similar calculations for the earlier cohort show that those who were teenagers in the 1980s are nearly four times as likely to be poor in adulthood (see Figure 1). Therefore, comparing the persistence of poverty across the cohorts indicates that the strength of this persistence has approximately doubled.

Figure 1: How teenage poverty affects the odds of being poor as an adult: change over time

Poverty in middle age.

For teenagers growing up in the 1970s, teenage poverty doubled the odds of being poor adults. Being poor as a teenager in the 1970s also doubled the odds of being poor in early middle age (age 42) by 2000. For this group, teenage poverty is therefore as strongly related to middle-age poverty as it was to poverty in earlier adulthood.

This is perhaps surprising: we might expect the influence of teenage poverty to fade as the years go by. One explanation could be that teenage poverty influences poverty in early adulthood, and this then links through to poverty in later life. However, accounting for poverty at age 33 has very little impact on the odds ratios for poverty at age 16. The link between poverty in teenhood and adulthood continues through to middle age, regardless of whether or not a person is recorded as poor in their thirties. It is also clear that the association between poverty at different points in adulthood is much stronger than that between childhood poverty and adult poverty.

Understanding why poverty persists

It is extremely difficult to pin down the factors that cause the persistence of poverty. Income poverty goes hand in hand with numerous other forms of deprivation, some of which are consequences of the lack of resources in the household and others of which lead to poverty in themselves. Many of these aspects of deprivation may be a result of other underlying factors that are very hard to measure and which persist through individuals’ lives. For all these reasons, it is extremely difficult to really understand the causal processes that lie at the route of the persistence of poverty through the lifecycle.

In order to gain some understanding of how poverty is transmitted across generations the researchers examined the link between teenage poverty and adult poverty when the other characteristics of the child’s family are held constant. This enables us to find out whether it is disadvantage in general rather than income poverty that is harming children’s life-chances. It also enables the analysis of which aspects of disadvantage are particularly harmful.

The results of this exercise make it clear that:

• Poor teenagers in the 1970s grew up to be poor because of more general family background disadvantages, in particular, parental non-employment and low education. Poverty itself had little or no direct effect over and above these teenage family factors.
• For teenagers in the 1980s, poverty had a direct effect on the chances of ending up in poverty, even allowing for differences in these same aspects of family background. Certainly, family background differences account for much of the persistence from child poverty to adulthood, but the odds of a poor teenager being a poor adult were much larger than for a non-poor teenager.

This provides some grounds for suggesting that redistribution could have had a beneficial impact for those growing up in the later cohort.

A similar analysis tells us which adult characteristics help to explain the persistence of poverty between teenhood and adulthood. Unsurprisingly, being out of work, having a partner out of work or having little accumulated work history are the factors most closely associated with poverty – both for adults in middle age and in their thirties – though low education plays an important role too. Our understanding of the persistence of poverty can be improved by analysing which of these characteristics are most closely linked with disadvantage and poverty in the teenage years.

The study finds that earlier disadvantage is associated with all of these later outcomes. One of the reasons for the stronger persistence among those who were teenagers in the 1980s is that teenage poverty became more closely linked to the likelihood of a person being out of work in their early thirties. The main factors linked to being out of work in adulthood are low education, lone parenthood and ill health. However, educational attainment does not explain the rise in persistence: the risk of poor teenagers in the 1980s ending up without qualifications was not much greater than for poor teenagers in the 1970s. Compared with a girl in the 1970s, a poor teenage girl in the 1980s was at higher risk for lone parenthood, and at higher risk for incapacity through illness in her thirties. These facts can explain part, though not all, of the rise in the intergenerational persistence over this period – but only for women.

This study presents two main new findings on the extent of the persistence of poverty.

• First, the persistence of poverty from the teens into the early thirties has risen over time, with teenage poverty having a greater impact on later outcomes for teenagers in the 1980s compared with teenagers in the 1970s. This finding adds to the wider evidence that family background has had a growing impact on later outcomes between these cohorts.
• Second, the link between poverty in teenhood and adulthood continues to have a bearing through to middle age for those who were teenagers in the 1970s (born in 1958). This is the case regardless of whether or not the person was poor in their thirties. In other words, an adult who was a poor teenager continues to be at higher risk of poverty by middle age even if they were out of poverty in their thirties.

The findings on why poverty persists are less clear-cut, and reveal multi-dimensional causes. The results suggest that initiatives to improve skills and employment opportunities are probably the only sensible way to tackle the problem of persistent poverty and that there is no quick fix available through other more specific interventions. Despite the lack of specific policy prescriptions that can be drawn, it is clear that children in poverty are more likely to grow up to be poor, a result that highlights the importance of the policy agenda to reduce child poverty and disadvantage but not through income transfers alone.

About the project

The data used are from the National Child Development Study (all children born in a week in 1958) and the British Cohort Study (all children born in a week in 1970).

The core data used are on income and other characteristics at age 16 for both cohorts, as well as information on later income and characteristics at age 33 for the first cohort and age 30 for the second cohort. The study also uses this information on income at age 42 for the older group.

Jo Blanden is a lecturer in economics at the University of Surrey, UK and Steve Gibbons is a lecturer in economic geography in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the London School of Economics, UK. Both authors are research associates in the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance.

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Dramatic rise in child poverty in the last five years – new report 19 May 2021

• Even before the pandemic, 4.3 million children were living in poverty, up 200,000 from the previous year – and up 500,000 over the past five years.
• North East England shows the greatest growth in child poverty over the past five years and has risen by more than a third, taking it from below the UK average to the second-highest of any region
• Highest rates of child poverty continue to be in major cities – particularly London and Birmingham
• Three quarters (75%) of children living in poverty in 2019/20 were in households with at least one working adult; up from two thirds (67%) in 2014/15

New figures released today reveal that even before the pandemic, in some parts of the UK, the majority of children are growing up in poverty once housing costs are taken into account.

The research carried out by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition shows that the North East of England has seen the most dramatic rise in child poverty in the past five years, fuelled by stagnating family incomes.

In London, high housing costs are pushing many families to the brink.

Overall, in the North East, the child poverty rate has risen by over a third - from 26% to 37% - over five years, moving from just below the UK average to the second-highest of any region, after London. A third of the overall increase happened in the latest year (2019/20) with many low-paid workers pushed below the poverty line by the freeze in their in-work benefits.  

Over the years, the proportion of children living in poverty who are in a household with at least one working adult has also increased sharply across the UK, up from two thirds (67%) five years ago to three quarters (75%).

Vikki Waterman is a single mum of two from Durham who works full-time. She says poverty in the north-east cripples hard-up families and it beggars belief that the UK Government doesn’t understand the struggles facing working parents, even more so following the financial impact of COVID-19.

“Too many of us in the north-east work twice as hard for half as much. We’re not living, we're just about surviving.

“Working families, particularly single parent families, already live day to day with the constant fear of having no flexibility or financial safety net, often forcing them to turn to high-interest loans in times of desperate need.  The government must not allow those of us barely managing to keep our heads above water from going under.”

The new data also confirms London and Birmingham, two of the UK’s largest cities, as having the greatest concentrations of child poverty with a dozen constituencies showing the majority of children living below the poverty line, even before large numbers of people started losing their jobs as a result of the pandemic.

Of the UK nations, Wales has the highest percentage of children living in poverty nationwide (31%), followed by England (30%) then Scotland and Northern Ireland (24% each).

Loughborough’s Dr Juliet Stone , who produced the report, said: “These latest statistics show that tackling child poverty remains a major challenge. The proportion of children living in a household with income below the poverty line after housing costs has not only risen overall in the UK, but has shown an especially stark increase in certain regions.

“The trend in the North East is particularly bleak. The region has experienced a steep rise in child poverty since 2014/15, and rates are now almost on a par with London, where child poverty is generally most prevalent after housing costs are taken into account. It is unusual to see such a clear trend over a relatively short period of time, and this highlights the need to address growing inequalities between regions of the UK.

“These statistics predate the outbreak of COVID 19, showing that the child poverty rates were worrying high even before the pandemic. This is likely to have worsened even further over the past year. It is therefore imperative that we continue to monitor child poverty in the UK and at a local level, identifying the areas that are in greatest need.”

The coalition is calling on the UK Government to recognise the scale of the problem and its impact on children’s lives and to create a credible plan to end child poverty which must include a commitment to increase child benefits.

Given the extent to which families are already struggling, the planned £20 p/w cut to Universal Credit in October should be revoked.

The support should also be extended to those still receiving financial assistance from the old benefits system, referred to as ‘legacy benefits’, before they are switched to Universal Credit.

Anna Feuchtwang, Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said: “The figures speak for themselves – the situation for children couldn’t be starker. We all want to live in a society where children are supported to be the best they can be, but the reality is very different for too many.

“The UK Government can be in no doubt about the challenge it faces if it is serious about ‘levelling up’ parts of the country hardest hit by poverty. After the year we’ve all had, they owe it to our children to come up with a plan to tackle child poverty that includes a boost to children’s benefits. And they need to scrap plans to cut Universal Credit given parents and children are having a tough enough time as it is.”

The full report ‘Local indicators of child poverty after housing costs, 2019/20’ as well as tables with Constituency and Local Authority data are available here

The 20 local authorities with highest increase in child poverty rates after housing costs, 2014/15 – 2019/20

The 20 parliamentary constituencies with highest child poverty rates, 2019/20

Interviews, further briefing and stats available.  Images available here (please credit Save the Children). Local authority and constituency data available below.

• The research was carried out by Dr Juliet Stone and Professor Donald Hirsch at the Centre for Research in Social Policy, at Loughborough University based on the latest Before Housing Cost child poverty data from DWP published in March 2021.
• Report and data all available here Local child poverty data 2014/15 - 2019/20 | Improving the lives of children and families (endchildpoverty.org.uk)
• For a family of one adult and one child, 60% of median income, after housing costs, in 2019/20 was £223 a week
• For a family of one adult and two children, £280 a week
• For a family of two adults and one child, £343 a week
• For a family of two adults and two children, £400 a week

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 21/82

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in the Guardian University League Table 2021, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2021.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

Dramatic rise in child poverty in the last five years – new report

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What are the effects of child poverty?

There are millions of children in poverty. Many come through it and achieve great things. However, it's not easy. Sleeping in a cold bedroom, studying on an empty stomach, missing out on trips with mates. Young people from poor backgrounds have to fight harder for their future. 

How does poverty affect children?

Children from poorer backgrounds may not have the same opportunities as other young people their age. Many will have to work part-time jobs on the side of school, they may not have access to the same learning materials, or they will miss out on trips with mates because they simply can't afford it. They have to work harder to overcome the obstacles that modern life puts in front of them.

Children on the move

Living out of cardboard boxes, constantly trying to make new friends, not knowing where to call home - this is normal for children who grow up in insecure housing. 

Ali, nine years old, is one of those children. Throughout it all, he didn't stop smiling.

poverty and school

School and friends.

Living in poor households can make children feel unequal to others. This can then make them less hopeful about getting the job they want. They feel like they have to work twice as hard.

Children who get free school meals are less likely to get A*- C grades at GCSE than wealthier peers.

It can also be tricky to form proper friendships. Repeatedly packing up their lives and moving home  means that any bonds they do make could be short lived. Children tend to get on with it but it's hard moving from school to school.

If they do have friends, they won’t be able to afford to do all the things they want to do. Just getting a bus to the shops could be too expensive. 

I would rather the family get food than me get my own things I would rather the family get food&nbsp;than me get my own things

differences for children from poor families

mental health

Mental health.

Money worries can make anyone feel stressed, anxious and depressed. Parents may argue more or lose their temper more easily. Young people often don't let it show but it's a difficult environment to grow up in.

In some cases, children with a mental health issue won’t have the bus fare to get to a service that may help, so they have to battle it alone.

Children living around debt are five times more likely to be unhappy than children from wealthier families.

poverty and bullying

Growing up in a household where money is tight can mean making do with a lot of things - second-hand clothes, basic food, hand-me-down textbooks. Children make the best of what they have but bullies often target those who look a bit different.

If a child goes to school in the wrong uniform, maybe it's last year's blazer or massively too small, they get singled out. Teachers send them home, classmates pick on them. They're made to feel different. 

More than a quarter of children from the poorest families said they had been bullied because their parents couldn't afford the cost of school.

my mum couldn't afford a skirt so I wore trousers my mum couldn't afford a skirt so I wore trousers

Making school uniforms affordable

We campaigned for years to cut the cost of school uniforms and it finally paid off. Families can now afford to send their children to school in the right kit, without worrying if they will be bullied or sent home. 

Gangs and exploitation

Many children take on the family's money worries. Some feel they need to step up and put food on the table. Criminals take advantage of this. They recruit these young people into gangs. 

Sometimes being in a gang is the only way to stay alive or to earn money

The effects of poverty are wide ranging. We work with children who go missing to escape their cramped rooms, young people who join criminal groups to make money for mum, pupils who are bullied for not being able to afford their school uniform. 

The start you get in life impacts how you grow up and what chances you have. We work so every child has a fair shot at happiness and we won't rest until we've created a society built for all children. 

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Child poverty: the crisis we can’t keep ignoring

Child poverty will continue to rise during this Parliament unless the Government commits to a bold, broad response. We are one of the most prosperous nations yet the number of children living in poverty is shocking and it is a cause for national shame. Child poverty has long been a fundamental problem facing Britain, and holding back millions of children. Even before Covid there were two fundamental facts that show how serious the situation has become:

• Children are the group of the population most likely to be in poverty, and child poverty has been rising in absolute and relative terms for nearly a decade during which pensioner poverty has fallen consistently and dramatically.
• The gap between children eligible for free school meals and their peers is now widening, after decades of continuous progress in closing this gap.

In other words, even before Covid levels of child poverty in England were getting higher, just at the outcomes for children growing up in poverty are getting worse.

The Covid crisis has shone a light on the realities this translates to: children going hungry and families – many of them working – relying on charity and living week to week. The strains on family life and on children are enormous and the impact of children’s development and life chances is clear. Some of the stories I hear from families and children wouldn’t be out of place in a 19th century Dickens novel. From the children whose parents won’t let them go to school because they couldn’t afford to self-isolate if their child got Covid, to the children who spent lockdown waiting on the doorstep for their school to deliver lunch – the only meal of the day. Or the schools desperately trying to raise 50p per child to provide a morning bagel, knowing they can use the leftovers to feed Mum.

This is a problem we must not ignore any longer.

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Child Poverty In The Uk Essay

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. We all know what it means to be poor, it means to be short of money, unable to afford many of services that other people of the society can. Child poverty means to be living in a family where they are having hard time making ends meet. As one of the richest country, 3.9 million children in the UK living in poverty is apalling.2 What is even worse is London, the capital city, having ‘the highest rate of child poverty of any English region.’3 Childhood is most important as that lays a foundation of their future and living in poverty for any amount of time has impact on their life and potential. It is well known fact that living in poverty has a huge impact on a person, depending on how severe the poverty was or the duration of …show more content…

I feel ashamed that we live in a society where people living in poverty do not speak of their issues and concerns because they are worried that their voices will not be heard and their concerns will be patronised. As Frances Ryan wrote ‘The wrong people are feeling shame for Britain's poverty’ and I agree. 4 They do not choose to wear worn out and dirty clothing because ‘Proud to be poor’ is not a banner under which many want to march’.3 Child Poverty Strategy, 2014-2017, is in place which hopes break the cycle of disadvantage. 6 I believe that this strategy is very good to reduce poverty because it has good, realistic ways to reduce poverty. In most extreme cases, these children are denied their basic rights. We can’t just sit back and do nothing I urge you to help in our own ways to reduce poverty. There are many ways to help such as campaigns, donations and charity help and provide support for families and children living in

Factors That Impact On The Lives Of Children And Young People

Poverty - A child may be living in a household with a very low income and their family may not be able to afford to provide for their children as they ad hoped. They may struggle to buy enough food, especially health food, to eat, buy clothes to wear or even to provide heating and electric. This can affect their physical and mental health due to poor hygiene and diet. Some children may suffer with low self-esteem and low self-respect because of the stigma attached to poverty, this can affect them in later life also.

As mentioned by Ruane and Cerulo in Second Thoughts, harsh realities of poverty affect children’s

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

Generational Poverty

Nelson Mandela, a revolutionary, advocated diligently for human rights and emphasized, “Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings” (Guy-Allen). He believed that poverty can be ended with humanity’s help. Poverty has been an issue for a long time, and people are going farther below the poverty line daily. There are many recent articles and conferences that discuss the causes and solutions to poverty overall. Some feel as if society is not doing enough for people in this position. Others view it as a situation that someone can get themselves out of with no extra help. But, there is a group that poverty strikes the hardest. The effects that poverty has on children is the worst. They cannot help themselves because they lack the power to do so. Therefore, it is the government’s job to make sure they are not being left behind. If they are not brought out of this, generational poverty will continue and increase the poverty rate. There should be more money put towards programs that directly aid to children in poverty because their position is holding them back from being successful.

Poverty in America Essay

Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.

Persuasive Essay On Child Poverty

When people hear the words “child poverty” some assume that this term may refer to homeless children who are living on the streets. This isn’t necessarily true, in fact some children who go to bed every night with a roof above their head still suffer from some form poverty. According to National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), 21% of children throughout the United States live in families who are considered poor. It is crucial for society to be more aware of this issue and to take part in contributing to help reduce child poverty within our country.

Poverty Of The United States Essay

More than 800 million people in the world are malnourished, 777 million of them are from the developing world (Raphel, S., 2014). Poverty is an issue that must be addressed to the population loud and clear or everyone will end up suffering. There are many families trying to survive and live from paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, there are some families that are unable to support himself or herself or any family member. One important key issue of poverty in the United States is inequality. Many Americans blame the poor people for their own fate but you should never judge a book by its cover. There can be many reasons why an individual or families end up in poverty. For example, low wage jobs, discrimination and social inequality, vulnerability to natural disasters, war and political instability. Another big issue we face today is child poverty. This is a very critical issue because these young children are our future. If we let these children live in poverty, there is a higher chance they will drop out of school, look for work in order to support their family, or give up in life.

Social Policy Report on Child Poverty in Wales and the Uk

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

Understand How to Support Positive Outcomes for Children and Young People

2. – Explain the important and impact of poverty on outcomes and life chances for children and young people.

What is child poverty, its key causes and impacts?

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 And Poverty: Human Services Problem In The United States

Poverty is a human services issue that is spread throughout the nation and world. ‘The percentage of children who are poor is more than three times as high in the United States as it is in Norway or the Netherlands.’ (Porter, 2016) The trend since 2000 is that there is an increasing amount of families, and in turn children, living in poverty. Poverty has been defined as the state of being extremely poor. But what does that mean? Poverty is the lack of financial, emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical resources. Children cannot change their situation because they are dependent on adults to provide for them which makes poverty easily passed from generation to generation. “Poverty directly and indirectly affects

Poverty In Ohio Region Analysis

“Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter” (“What is Poverty,” 2016). In the United States, there are 45 million Americans are living in poverty (“45 Million Americans,” 2014). In order to determine if one is living in poverty, the United States Census Bureau has established a poverty line that they then measure, according to the individual’s income and their family size (“Poverty Thresholds,” 2016; “Poorest Cities in America,” 2016). Since the recession in 2008, many states have seen a rise of families living in poverty. Poverty is a vicious cycle and has devastating effects on young children.

The Role Of Children In Poverty In The United States

Nelson Mandela once said, "Children are our greatest treasure. They are our future." (Nepaul). Yet, in 2014, 31.4 million American children lived in low-income households and 15.4 million lived in poor families (phys.org). By 2016, the number of children living in poverty still stay the same. In fact, it even shows sign of increasing when nearly half of children in America are living dangerously close to the poverty line, where their families barely make enough to afford the most basic needs (phys.org). Looking at these statistics, it is clear that we need to these children and their families. And in order to do so, we first need to change our attitudes towards the poor and create more effective plans, such as...

The Effects of Poverty on Children Essay

• 4 Works Cited

When analyzing children growing up in poverty a lot of factors come into play such as their physical, psychological and emotional development. To grow up in poverty can have long term effect on a child. What should be emphasized in analyzing the effects of poverty on children is how it has caused many children around the world to suffer from physical disorders, malnutrition, and even diminishes their capacities to function in society. Poverty has played a major role in the functioning of families and the level of social and emotional competency that children are able to reach. Children in poverty stricken families are exposed to greater and emotional risks and stress level factors. They are even capable of understanding and dealing with

Childhood Poverty Essay

Children are faced with many consequences due to growing up in poverty. Most children who live in poverty go to poor unsuitable schools, live in unexceptable housing, and grow up around more violence and crime than any other parent would wish for their child. As soon as the child is born into poverty, they begin to feel the effects of it. They tend to have low birth weight and contain a higher risk of dying during infancy. We watched a video in class that showed that poverty could take a toll on the child’s learning capabilities, and health status. There were stories of children with hyperactivity problems, chronic ear infections which caused hearing loss, and even children who were not receiving the proper amount of nutrients to be able to grow and function correctly. The first years of a child’s life are the most crucial because most of the development of the brain occurs then.

Child Poverty in New Zealand

Socio-economic factors are widely acknowledged as important determinants of poverty. If an individual experiences adverse living conditions in childhood, majority of them will have inadequate income and result in low socio-economic status as adults (Carroll et al, 2011). Children born in poor households have difficulty in accessing the basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, and good living environment) and this can affect their learning ability at school, unable to focus. In other words, they have a higher chance of dropping out of school or lower education attainment, unable to provide appropriate qualifications when they move onto adulthood, seeking for job opportunities. These children are finding day-to-day life tough, they are living in cold, damp houses, do not have warm or rain-proof clothing, their shoes are worn, and many days they go hungry (Children's Commissioner, 2012). Often this has taken place over a long period of time, impacting on their development, behaviour and physical health furthermore limiting their potential as they grow into adults.

Related Topics

• Poverty in the United States
• Poverty threshold
• Cycle of poverty
• United States

• Child poverty will be a test of Labour’s fiscal prudence

Its MPs, members and voters will want rapid action on a totemic issue

F or a taste of the pressures that Labour will almost certainly soon be grappling with, watch a recent interview with Sir Keir Starmer on Sky News, a broadcaster. Pushed on how he would help families struggling with rising taxes and high energy bills, the Labour leader asked voters to trust his instincts: “It’s about who do you have in your mind’s eye?” The interviewer moved swiftly onto child poverty: could Sir Keir pledge to remove the two-child limit, which means families on benefits get no extra support beyond their second child? “I’m not going to make promises that I can’t keep,” he said.

Sir Keir and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves , have spent years building a reputation for fiscal prudence. As a result they now face the prospect of being elected by millions of voters they are bound to disappoint. Tackling poverty would not be the only let-down but it is a good case study of how a Labour government would struggle without money. There are few more urgent causes for the party’s core voters, many of whom work in public services and charities. It is the reason many activists and MP s—and several members of the shadow cabinet—got involved in politics. But the best the party can offer, at least for now, is modest change.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Expectation management”

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• Child poverty

Children are more likely to live in poverty than adults. They’re also more vulnerable to its effects.

In recent years, the world has made remarkable strides advancing development. Yet hundreds of millions of people still live in extreme poverty. Children are disproportionately affected. Despite comprising one third of the global population, they represent half of those struggling to survive on less than $2.15 a day. An estimated 333 million children live in extreme poverty.

Children who grow up impoverished often lack the food, sanitation, shelter, health care and education they need to survive and thrive. Across the world, about 1 billion children are "multidimensionally" poor, meaning they lack necessities as basic as nutritious food or clean water.

The consequences are grave. Worldwide, the poorest children are twice as likely to die in childhood than their wealthier peers. For those growing up through humanitarian emergencies, the risks of deprivation and exclusion surge. Compounding crises – from the impacts of climate-related disasters, conflicts and COVID-19 – have stalled progress for the most vulnerable children. Even in the world’s richest countries, one in seven children still live in poverty.

No matter where they are, children who grow up impoverished suffer from poor living standards, develop fewer skills for the workforce, and earn lower wages as adults. But only a limited number of Governments have set the elimination of child poverty as a national priority.

UNICEF’s response

Child poverty is neither inevitable nor immune to efforts to address it. As many countries have already shown, it can be reduced and even eradicated through continued attention and action.

With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), nations agreed for the first time in history to end extreme child poverty. The SDGs call for multidimensional child poverty – a measure of poverty that goes beyond income – to be halved by 2030, building a world in which all children have what they need to survive, thrive and fulfil their potential.

As part of this commitment, UNICEF mobilizes actors at the national, regional and global levels to help countries measure and address child poverty in all its dimensions. With the World Bank, we produce global statistics on extreme child poverty that help guide policymakers. We also work with Governments and partners on integrated policies and programmes, backed by the resources needed to put them into practice. Our efforts support the expansion of child-sensitive social protection programmes, including universal child benefits , which have been shown to positively impact children’s health, education and nutrition.

Since 2014, UNICEF has played an instrumental role in directing global attention to child poverty. The Global Coalition to End Child Poverty , chaired by UNICEF, has become a powerful initiative for raising awareness about child poverty and accelerating global efforts to tackle it. As part of the coalition, we produced a comprehensive guide to help countries reach the Sustainable Development Goals for child poverty.

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Children’s futures at a crossroads

Geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation threaten the development and survival of children across the globe. But a more hopeful path exists

More than 1 in 5 children live in poverty in 40 of the world’s richest countries

Climate finance is about fulfilling obligations

It’s no longer about developed countries being “good-hearted”

Children bearing brunt of stalled progress on extreme poverty reduction worldwide

Ending child poverty: A policy agenda

Unicef’s commitment to ending child poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals, a practical guide to monetary poverty analysis, are countries committed to ending child poverty by 2030 a review of vnr reports from 2017 to 2021, a review of the use of multidimensional poverty measures, a world free from child poverty: a guide to the tasks to achieve the vision , global estimate of children in monetary poverty: an update, social policy analysis to inform the covid-19 response, ending extreme poverty: a focus on children, putting children first: a policy agenda to end child poverty, end child poverty global coalition: child poverty reports.

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• DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcae098
• Corpus ID: 270662295

The Visibility of a Socio-Economic Dimension in Day-to-Day Child and Family Social Work Practice in Wales

• Martin Elliott , Philip Smith , Jonathan Scourfield
• Published in British Journal of Social… 19 June 2024

25 References

Why are there higher rates of children looked after in wales, comparing local authority rates of children in care: a survey of the children’s social care workforce in wales, a review of the relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect: insights from scoping reviews, systematic reviews and meta‐analyses, towards geographies of child protection, understanding out of home care rates in northern ireland: a thematic analysis of mixed methods case studies, child welfare inequalities in a time of rising numbers of children entering out-of-home care, child welfare inequalities in the four nations of the uk, outing the elephants: exploring a new paradigm for child protection social work, poverty, exclusion and child protection practice: the contribution of ‘the politics of recognition&respect’, the association between child maltreatment and adult poverty - a systematic review of longitudinal research., related papers.

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