Prevalence and factors associated with multidimensional child deprivation: Findings from the Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study

Abstract

Despite the growing importance of the multidimensional methods of assessing child poverty, few studies in the U.S. have applied a rights-based approach to examining child deprivation. This study examines multidimensional child deprivation using eight dimensions and twelve indicators based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Using a sample of children at age nine from the fifth wave of the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study, this study applied the multiple overlapping deprivation analysis (MODA), a comprehensive analytic method to assess the multidimensionality of child deprivation and to provide a detailed picture of material and social forms of deprivation among the U.S. children. This study found that the overall child deprivation rate was 8.89%; environmental safety (20.36%), information (15.94%), and housing security (14.23%) dimensions contributed the highest to the overall child deprivation; the overlap between deprivation and income poverty was 12.83%. Results suggest that understanding multifaceted and interrelated contexts of child deprivation is crucial to promote child rights.