Child Poverty Research Articles

Assessing reduction in multidimensional childhood poverty in India: a decomposition analysis

BackgroundEmpirically, the official measurement of multidimensional poverty often shows children as the poorest age group. According to Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report, Africa and South Asia bear the highest burden multidimensional child poverty (MCP). Around one-third of children aged 0–4 are multidimensionally poor in India. Policymakers in India must have appropriate information on child poverty to alleviate poverty. The purpose of this paper is to examine MCP trends and track efforts to reduce child poverty at the national level across geographic regions, castes, and religious groups.MethodsWe used the Alkire-Foster method to calculate the MCP index (MCPI) among children aged 0–4 using the latest two rounds of National Family Health Survey data (2015–16 and 2019–21). We applied the Shapley decomposition method to analyse the marginal contribution of incidence and intensity that lead to changes in MCPI.ResultsIn India, the incidence of child poverty reduced by more than 40% between 2015–16 and 2019–21 (46.6–27.4%) and the MCPI reduced by half (24.2–12.6%). The relative decline in MCPI has been largest for urban areas, northern regions, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Hindus. Children from rural areas, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Muslim households are the poor performers. When focusing exclusively on the poor child, we found all the population subgroups and geographic locations reduced the censored headcount ratios in all 14 indicators. Across places of residence, castes, religions, and regions the, indicators like electricity, birth registration, drinking water, assisted delivery, sanitation and cooking fuel made significant improvements between 2015–16 to 2019–21.ConclusionThe study indicates that by studying the MCPI over time, one can identify the priorities in policy development to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Caste-based analysis of multidimensional early childhood poverty in India: Patterns and determinants

Children are among the most vulnerable groups worldwide, bearing a disproportionate share of the burden of poverty. One-third of children, compared to one-sixth of adults, are multidimensionally poor. Experiencing poverty in childhood can have long-term negative consequences across generations. As a result, multidimensional poverty measures have recently been investigated in the child poverty literature. This study analysed multidimensional poverty among children (0–59 months) in India using the Alkire-Foster’s counting approach and looked into how it differs across the country’s well-known social stratification, the Caste system. The determinants of multidimensional child poverty (MCP) have been determined using multiple logistic regression. By using National Family Health Survey, 2019–21 data, the study revealed that the incidence of MCP in India is 32 %; highest among Scheduled Tribes (STs) (50 %), followed by Scheduled Castes (SCs) (37 %), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) (30 %) and ‘Others’ (22 %). Across all the Castes highest rates of deprivation were recorded in the indicators of standard of living and early childhood development (ECD) dimensions; together, they contribute more than 50 % to the MCP index (MCPI). The contribution of the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) dimension in MCPI of STs is also noticeably higher (20.2 %). Of the 15 indicators considered, availability of TV/Radio, followed by immunisation, sanitation, cooking fuel, housing condition, and stunting, are the leading contributors with a combined contribution of more than 55 %. A child being a male, of higher birth order and born to a mother with higher years of schooling was more likely to experience multidimensional poverty. The household head’s sex, age, and years of schooling were significantly associated with MCP. Across all castes, children from nuclear families, 7 + household members, higher number of children per woman, rural areas, central, eastern and north-eastern (except STs) regions were more likely to experience multidimensional poverty.

Prevention of Childhood Adversities and Children’s Common Mental Disorders and School Grades

Adversity during childhood can limit children's chances of achieving their optimal developmental and psychological outcomes. Well-designed observational studies might help identify adversities that are most implicated in this, thereby helping to identify potential targets for developing interventions. To compare the association between preventing childhood poverty, parental mental illness and parental separation, and the population rate of offspring common mental disorders (ages 16-21 years) or average school grades (age 16 years). A population-based, longitudinal cohort study using Swedish registries was conducted. A total of 163 529 children born in Sweden between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 1997, were followed up until their 21st birthday. They were linked to registries using Sweden's national personal identification number. Children were linked to birth parents, hospital records, and school data. Parents were linked to registries containing health, income, sociodemographic, and obstetric data. Analyses were conducted between January 10, 2021, and August 26, 2022. Childhood adversities of relative poverty (household disposable income <50% of the median), parental inpatient admission for a mental illness, or parental separation. Adversities were categorized into developmental periods: ages 0 to 3, 4 to 7, 8 to 11, and 12 to 16 years. The main outcomes were children's hospital records with a diagnosis of anxiety or depression between ages 16 and 21 years and school grades at the end of compulsory education (age 16 years). The parametric g-formula modeled population changes in outcomes associated with the counterfactual, hypothetical preventing adversity exposures, accounting for fixed and time-varying confounders. Adjustments were made for parental demographic characteristics, obstetric variables, and socioeconomic data at birth. A total of 163 529 children were included in the cohort (51.2% boys, 51.4% born in 1996). Preventing all adversities was associated with an estimated change in the prevalence of offspring common mental disorders from 10.2% to 7.6% and an improvement in school grades with an SD of 0.149 (95% CI, 0.147-0.149). Preventing parental separation provided for the greatest improvement, with an estimated 2.34% (95% CI, 2.23%-2.42%) fewer children with a common mental disorder and an improvement in school grades by 0.127 SDs (0.125-0.129). Greater improvements were shown by hypothetically targeting adolescents (age 12-16 years) and those whose parents had a mental illness when the child was born. The results of this cohort modeling study suggest that preventing childhood adversity could provide notable improvements in the rates of common mental disorders and school grades. Many children might achieve better life outcomes if resources are properly allocated to the right adversities (parental separation), the right groups (children with parental mental illness), and at the right time (adolescence).

The role of early childhood development and education (ECDE) in supporting learning and well-being in rural early childhood and primary schools in South Africa

ABSTRACT This paper examines how early childhood and primary schools can be constructed as enabling spaces to improve the learning and well-being of children aged six to nine who live in multidimensionally poor, low-resourced rural communities in South Africa. Quality early childhood development and education (ECDE) can be the catalyst to break the cycle of poverty for many young children in rural areas. A systematic review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flowchart. A comprehensive search strategy using electronic databases and hand searches systematically whittled down an initial database of 30,080 articles to 16 articles for this study. A thematic analysis identified enablers and constraints for supporting children’s learning and well-being across three themes: (1) infrastructure, educational resources and child agency (2) initial teacher education (ITE) and (3) socioeconomic status. The findings and discussion highlight child agency as an enabler to learning and well-being and the structural and pedagogical challenges of implementing ITE curricula specific to rural educational contexts.

Settler colonial expansion and the institutionalisation of children in Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT Recent histories have underlined the importance of understanding the nineteenth-century gold rushes which took place in various parts of the anglophone world in relation to settler colonialism, and this work has advanced understandings of gender, race and Empire in significant ways. However, the field has yet to seriously grapple with questions about the role, treatment and positioning of children. This article will examine the Australian colony of Victoria, which was profoundly transformed by a gold rush beginning in 1851. Through case studies of three families – one white, one Chinese and one Aboriginal – the article will illustrate the complex relationships between poverty, colonialism and carceral institutions for children during the second half of the nineteenth century. These case studies allow an exploration that centres on the lives of the children and families forced to navigate an often-inescapable network of institutions, thereby demonstrating the impossibility of separating these institutions (which form the foundations of our modern-day child protection system) from the project and philosophy of settler colonialism.

Childhood Poverty Duration and Its Long-Term Effects on Income and Education in China: A Survival Analysis Based on CHNS Data

Childhood Poverty Duration and Its Long-Term Effects on Income and Education in China: A Survival Analysis Based on CHNS Data

Child Allowances and Work-Family Reconciliation Policies: What Best Reduces Child Poverty and Gender Inequality While Enabling Desired Fertility?

Child Allowances and Work-Family Reconciliation Policies: What Best Reduces Child Poverty and Gender Inequality While Enabling Desired Fertility?

Reducing Child Poverty—What Money Can Buy

Reducing Child Poverty—What Money Can Buy

Poverty as a Driver of Stigma among Finnish Children during the Covid-19 Pandemic– Evidence from the 2021 Children’s Voice Survey

Stigma is a social problem that can have severe outcomes on both individuals and society. Previous research shows that children’s experiences of stigma may increase during times of stress and hardship such as the Covid-19 pandemic, but also that poverty and a lack of resources can create stigmatization. However, both stigma and poverty are multidimensional phenomena that have been investigated mainly among adults using single indicators. This article contributes to literature by studying children’s experiences of stigma and its relation to poverty by using a multidimensional approach. More specifically, it investigates Finnish children’s experienced and internalized stigma during the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and analyses how these dimensions are associated with subjective poverty and material deprivation. We use data from the 2021 Children’s Voice survey conducted by Save the Children, Finland. The results show that both dimensions of stigma are correlated with subjective poverty as well as material deprivation, even when controlling for socio-economic and other variables. Also low psychological wellbeing is a significant driver of both forms of stigma, while living in a one-parent household was significantly associated with internalized stigma, but not experienced stigma. By contrast, while higher self-esteem seem to reduce both forms of stigma, a higher number of good friends was found to only reduce experienced stigma. As there are both short- and long-term negative outcomes of stigma, for example in terms of mental health problems and social exclusion, child poverty should be taken seriously – especially during times of crises such as pandemics.

Ethiopian girls narratives of risk and governance of circular migration to the Arabian Gulf

AbstractThis article explores Ethiopian girls' narratives of risks and vulnerability during their migratory journeys to, in and from Saudi Arabia. It discusses how risks of deprivation and abuse that drive girls to leave their homes are sustained during the migration process. The research primarily draws on interviews with 35 deported girls from Saudi Arabia to analyse intersecting structural, sociocultural, gendered and personal factors that force them to take these risks. It argues that although Ethiopian girls migrate to escape childhood poverty and vulnerability, these conditions are not averted but reproduced during migration. By foregrounding the experiences of deported girls, the article further discusses how the desire to support familial livelihoods engenders their circular migration and how multiple actors of migration take advantage of their labour and bodies against the backdrop of limited institutional support systems.

The Trouble with Child Poverty.

In research, in policy, and in the media, there is a clear focus on alleviating child poverty. Child poverty is cast as an urgent societal problem, in part reflecting recognition of the impact of early life circumstances on health across the life course. However, focusing on child poverty can have unintended consequences. First, calls to alleviate child poverty position children as a worthy investment in future population health, while adult poverty is represented as a misallocation of scarce resources. Second, children are positioned as blameless in talk about child poverty, whereas adults are viewed as potentially blameworthy for living in poverty. This ignores the ways early poverty shapes opportunities throughout the life course. These accounts are inconsistent: if a childhood of poverty shapes long-term outcomes, then poverty in adulthood cannot be an individual failing. Building arguments for poverty alleviation on social investment and personal responsibility ultimately supports rather than undermines the social structural arrangements that entrench inequalities. Recognizing the interconnectedness of families and communities and the destructiveness of poverty at every point in the life course has the potential to improve health in a way that can never be achieved by focusing solely on child poverty.

Familienpolitische Trends in den OECD-Ländern

Abstract The range of family policies in OECD countries has been influenced by various factors, including demographic shifts, efforts to integrate more women into the workforce, promoting shared responsibility in unpaid work, pursuing broader gender equality goals, and combating child and family poverty. What policy measures have OECD countries implemented and what are the results? How do recent developments in Germany compare to this?

A Neuroscientific Approach to Childhood Poverty

Socioeconomic status (SES) affects brain development. As the brain is one of the most important parts of the body, it is crucial to investigate factors that can influence its function and how those changes carry on to different aspects of life. The impact of SES on brain function is broad, and it ranges from affecting emotional responses to life achievements in adulthood. The negative results of SES start in early childhood and continue onto adult life, causing many issues along the way. This review highlights the studies that have already examined SES. Many studies have already examined SES and its influence on cognitive function and in this work, different research will also be presented on each aspect of the brain region. Knowing the long-term consequences of lower SES, scientists have theorized using biomarkers to prevent and/or resolve these detriments. This report highlights the need for further research into intervention. These biomarkers will identify the people that are affected the most by low SES and certain actions can then be taken to alleviate the issues. Using the data from biomarkers, new policy can be proposed to counter the issues of SES and bring about positive results. By understanding the negative effects of SES, awareness is brought to the need for mediation of these impacts. &#x0D; Keywords: socioeconomic status, cognitive function, biomarkers &#x0D;

Work Hours Volatility and Child Poverty: The Potential Mitigating Role of Safety Net Programs

Abstract Despite established links among persistent unemployment, low wages, and children’s economic well-being, social scientists have yet to document how variability in work hours is linked to child poverty. Our knowledge of the safety net’s heterogeneous responses to work-hour instability is also limited. This is of critical importance for scholars and policymakers. Using nationally representative data collected every 4 months, this paper examines how intra-year work-hour volatility is related to child poverty, measured through both the official poverty measure (OPM) and the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). It further assesses varying degrees of buffering effects of cash, in-kind benefits, and tax transfers on income in the context of work-hour volatility. Results indicate that more than one in four households (26%) facing the greatest volatility lived under the poverty line. Black and Hispanic children, as well as those living with unpartnered single mothers, faced substantially higher variability in household market hours worked. Hispanic children experienced not only greater volatility in their caregivers’ work hours but also higher poverty level, even after taking government programs into account. In-kind benefits are more effective in buffering household income declines resulting from unstable work hours, followed by tax transfers and cash benefits. The effectiveness of near-cash benefits is particularly salient among Black children and children of single mothers. These results provide new evidence to inform policy discussions surrounding the best ways to help socioeconomically disadvantaged families to retain benefits and smooth their income in the face of frequent variation in work hours and, thus, earnings.

CEO's poverty imprints and corporate financial fraud: Evidence from China

Our research examines the potential influence of CEOs' childhood poverty experiences on corporate financial fraud. We employ upper echelon theory and imprinting theory to investigate how CEOs' childhood poverty imprint affects corporate financial fraud. Using data for Chinese publicly traded firms from 2011 to 2020, we discover that corporations with CEOs who experienced childhood poverty had a higher likelihood of engaging in financial fraud. Following the fraud triangle theory, we investigate moderating mechanisms affecting decay and the strength of poverty imprinting. Our findings suggest that CEOs' companies with poor performance reflect a weaker imprint, but CEO age and board independence diminish the positive impact of poverty imprinting on corporate financial fraud. The contributions of imprinting, the fraud triangle theory, and the literature on corporate financial fraud are also discussed.

Adverse childhood experiences and living in the socially deprived areas in adulthood: a cross-sectional study of the nationwide data in Japan

ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine whether having adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) was associated with living in a deprived area in adulthood.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was conducted by using nation-wide data in 2022 of the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS). Participants were community dwelling people 18 years or older. ACEs were assessed by Japanese version of 15-items ACE measurement tool (ACE-J). Living condition was measured by Area Deprived Index (ADI) and Densely Inhabited District (DID) based on zip code. Multivariable logistic regression to analyze the associations between ADI and ACE 4 + was conducted, controlling for individual-level factors, such as age, sex, marital status, and education, as an additional analysis.ResultsThe total of 27,916 participants were included in the analysis. The prevalence of emotional neglect, childhood poverty, and school bullying were 38.2%, 26.5%, 20.8%, respectively. 75% of the population had one or more ACE(s). The number of ACEs was associated with significantly higher risk of living in deprived area in the adulthood (p = 0.001). ACEs were not associated with living in density area. The association between ADI and ACEs 4 + was non-significant after controlling the individual-level factors.ConclusionPeople with higher number of ACEs tend to live in deprived areas in adulthood. Policy makers in highly deprived areas can apply the trauma-informed approach for the community care and support, which is critical to mitigating deficit perspectives and facilitating comprehensive support for those with ACEs.

Multidimensional energy poverty and acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years of age: evidence from 22 low-income and middle-income countries

BackgroundIn low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), energy poverty has predominantly been studied from the unidimensional perspective of indoor air pollution. Acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children under 5 years of...

Democratic Constitutions, Poverty and Economic Inequality: Redress Through the Fourth Branch Institutions?

The Scottish Poverty and Inequality Commission is a relatively new fourth branch institution with responsibility for addressing both poverty and inequality in Scotland. Nonetheless, it has made important, if modest and incremental, inroads to achieving these objectives, by encouraging the collection and use by government of relevant data in policy-formation; and the expansion and acceleration in the roll-out of important substantive policies focused on alleviating child poverty. The question this raises is what underpins this institutional success. The article draws attention to three key factors: the Commission’s distinctive combination of independence and a collaborative approach to policy making, supported by a ‘triangular’ relationship between the government, Commission and civil society, its expertise and perceived legitimacy, and the unique policy context presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s commitment to devolution and progressive differentiation of its policies from the UK. These factors, it suggests, offer useful lessons for constitutional and institutional designers elsewhere — about both the promise and contingency and four branch solutions to problems of economic exclusion and disadvantage.

Differential item functioning of material deprivation assessment in households with or without children.

Composite multidimensional indices are broadly used to measure child poverty and social exclusion. Many of such indices are based on EU-SILC data or similar large scale complex sampling surveys, with the household as unit of analysis. Indicators related to households with or without children may quantify the intended attribute differently depending on the household structure and characteristics of individuals, potentially compromising the assessment. We conducted statistical modelling and hypotheses tests using a two-parameter logistic item response model (IRM) and the likelihood-ratio test for DIF verification. Methods were applied to 2020 EU-SILC Portuguese data comprising 11,367 households representing a population of 4,099,052. Statistical analysis have allowed for the survey sampling design. Our findings demonstrate differential item functioning in the assessment material deprivation in households with or without children.

The increasing association between child poverty and children in out-of-home care - an ecological longitudinal analysis of Finnish municipalities in the period 1992–2021

BackgroundInternational evidence indicates that child poverty increases the risk of child welfare intervention needs but Finland, paradoxically, has low child poverty rates and high child welfare intervention rates. We investigate the extent to which the rate of social assistance use in families with children, as a proxy for child poverty, can be associated with the rate of children in out-of-home care in Finnish municipalities. MethodsData on the annual rate of social assistance use and out-of-home care were drawn from national registers for 216 Finnish municipalities from 1992 to 2021. Linear regression models were utilised to investigate the extent to which the social assistance use rate explained child out-of-home care rates, both spatially and temporally, across municipalities and years while adjusting for the unemployment rate. ResultsThe rate of out-of-home care increased from some 700 to 1600 per 100,000 children over the period 1992–2021. A percentage point higher rate of the social assistance use was associated with 44–72 more children placed in out-of-home care per 100,000 children, net of the unemployment rate. This association was stronger in more recent time periods. A smaller association was observed within municipalities over time: a percentage point increase in social assistant use was linked to some 4–25 more children placed in out-of-home care per 100,000 children. ConclusionOut-of-home care is increasingly concentrated in Finnish municipalities with high rates of families receiving social assistance. Preventative child welfare interventions are therefore required in areas with higher rates of economic difficulties among families.