Abstract
Child poverty is an increasing challenge for Norwegian society and its municipalities. Policies to reduce it include housing as one particularly important health determinant. The capability approach allows us to focus on determinants for health. Methods were triangulated and literature and document studies, interviews and participating observations were part of the data-gathering process. Thematic analyses were used to analyse data. Children and adults view housing as important. Housing determines families’ possibilities of consuming other goods and choosing what functionings they will convert their resources into. Municipalities can change the course of development by engaging with the Norwegian Government Housing Bank and implementing instruments such as social housing, housing allowances and starter loans giving families the possibility to become homeowners. Housing determines intra- as well as inter-generational life chances. Housing is a corrosive functioning if children live in families that have low-quality housing or high housing costs. Housing is a positive functioning for children if families own their housing. Housing is defined as a market good and a welfare asset. Policies enable some families to buy their own housing, whereas the number of poor children still increases.
Highlights
IntroductionChildhood is intrinsically valuable, and children have a right to a good life
Housing is defined as a market good and a welfare asset
If families experience an overburden of housing costs, cramped living conditions, low-quality housing or housing located in a deprived neighbourhood, they have few opportunities to choose what combinations of functionings they want for their children
Summary
Childhood is intrinsically valuable, and children have a right to a good life. Children are dependent on family resources, and if the family is poor, this affects children in material, social and psycho-social domains [1]. The effects of income poverty are inter-generational, and children living in poverty are substantially more likely to be poor as adults than non-poor children [2]. A special report to the EU Commission emphasises the importance of tackling the high rate of children living in poverty. Preventing child poverty is vital for the lives and futures of individual children, and for the futures of societies and for economies. The report further states that the economic benefits of investing in children significantly outweigh the financing costs of the investment [3] Child poverty has drawn increasing attention from social scientists and policy makers in the past decades in the EU, and not the least in the Nordic countries and Norway [4]
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