Deprived Households Research Articles

Symposium on ‘Intervention policies for deprived households’ Policy initiatives to address low-income households' nutritional needs in the UK

Members of low-income households in the UK are more likely to have patterns of food and nutrient intakes that are less inclined to lead to good health outcomes in the short and long term. Health inequalities, including the likelihood of child and adulthood obesity, have long been documented in the UK and show little sign of improving so far, despite 10 years of attention from a government that has committed itself to addressing them. Following the Acheson Inquiry into Inequalities in Health (1998) in England a number of initiatives to tackle inequalities in food and diet were established, both nationally and within the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, until recently, there has been no overall strategic policy addressing the food and nutritional needs of low-income households. The present paper reviews how the problems have been constructed and understood and how they have been addressed, briefly drawing on recent evaluations of food and nutrition policies in Scotland and Wales. The contemporary challenge is to frame cross-cutting policy initiatives that move beyond simple targeting and local actions, encompass a life-course approach and recognise both the diversity of households that fall into 'low-income' categories and the need for 'upstream' intervention.

High-quality housing—A key issue in delivering sustainable communities

UK cities have been subject to severe social and economic pressures over the past few decades, which have had an uneven spatial impact on the urban environment and have given a rise to the concentration of the most deprived households in the worst urban neighbourhoods. The current government objective can be interpreted as an attempt to implement regeneration projects or create sustainable communities to improve quality of life. Housing is a key issue to consider in delivering healthy and attractive communities. Sustainable housing should be well available, high-quality, economical, ecological, aesthetical design, comfortable and cosy one, which would better suit the needs of a person. Furthermore, dwelling houses, apartments or, in other words, housing premises, must be set out according to the conditions of that locality and must meet the established technical and hygienic requirements. The article focuses on sustainable housing issue in the UK and a sustainable housing development model for communities is proposed.

Confined Contact: Residential Segregation and Ethnic Bridges in the Netherlands

In Dutch integration policy, ethnic concentration is assumed to have negative effects on the integration of ethnic minorities, the most important cause being the lack of contact with native Dutch. Although research on concentration effects has increased, empirical evidence to support this isolation thesis is still insufficient. This paper contributes by testing the assumption that ethnic concentration hinders the existence of ethnic bridges-i.e. the informal ties between ethnic minorities and native Dutch. Moreover, it checks for different effects for deprived and non-deprived households. Findings indicate that one's neighbourhood plays a significant role in social inclusion into Dutch society and that this effect is stronger for the non-deprived.

How protective is breast feeding against diarrhoeal disease in infants in 1990s England? A case-control study

Aims: To assess the effect of several measures of infant feeding on diarrhoeal disease, and whether these effects vary according to markers of social deprivation. Methods: Case-control study of diarrhoeal...

Relationships between HIV/AIDS, income and expenditure over time in deprived South African households

We compared 202 households with an HIV-infected member, and 202 unaffected neighbouring households, in one rural and one urban area in Free State province, South Africa. Interviews were conducted with a key informant in each household, at baseline and 6, 12 and 18 months later, with 87% follow-up. Results of the baseline and 6 months study were published previously; this paper reports on trends over the full 18 months of follow-up. We analysed changes in income and expenditure and their relationships with morbidity and mortality using multiple regression. Over 2 years, a third of affected households reported at least one death, mainly due to infectious disease. Affected households’ real expenditures decreased over time, while real incomes did not, absolutely and relative to unaffected households. Mortality and morbidity independently predicted lower expenditure (adjusted relative expenditure 0.86 and 0.84, respectively), mortality predicted lower income (adjusted relative income 0.80) and higher expenditure predicted less morbidity and mortality (adjusted odds ratios for a US$100 monthly difference 0.78 and 0.65). Households’ economies and HIV/AIDS were thus dynamically related, and occurred against a background of progressive poverty. Expenditure was a more sensitive indicator of the economic impact of HIV/AIDS than was income.

Giving Away One's Poverty. on the Consumption of Scarce Resources within the Family

This article draws on qualitative data from a Belgian poverty research. Intensive in-depth interviews questioned parents of deprived households about the way they deal with their limited means. To make ends meet, they are forced to restrain their personal needs and desires until they are adapted to the financial stringency of their condition. Further analysis of their situation is somehow confronted with a marked contrast between the parental austerity and the sometimes affluent way in which the wants of their young children are gratified. The poor household's consumption is indeed favouring the kids. Although there is not that much to share, the respondents prefer to neglect their own basic needs in order to satisfy their children's desires. This self-sacrifice is upholding one's honour as a parent and it develops at the same time a relationship with the children marked by affection, care and loyalty. By giving one can take up the parental role of a responsible actor who preserves his/her children from economic adversities. Consequently the gift bestows an identity upon the parents and helps to constitute a family bond marked by internal solidarity. This altruism clearly shows that consumption is not a simple deduction of the available income, nor is it a strictly utilitarian business. The means of consumption are also cultural means of communication, through which people assume roles and create social ties, resulting in a moral economy that tries to counter the misfortune of the outside world.

Factors affecting clinical referral of young children with a subdural haemorrhage to child protection agencies

AbstractThe research on which this paper is based aimed to identify the social and legal consequences when young children sustain a suspected non‐accidental subdural haemorrhage; and to examine the clinical and social factors that impact on clinical referral decisions. Data were collected from medical, social services, police and court files for information on the management of children with these injuries by various agencies in the South West of England and South Wales. Data were collected on the case management of young children from time of presentation to hospital through to referral to police and social services. The paper shows that children who are most at risk of shaking injuries are likely to be very young babies between 3 and 5 months of age. They are most likely to come from deprived households where parental stability is weak and where social support for the carers is limited. Referral of children by paediatricians to child protection agencies is not always carried out in cases where coexisting signs indicate a strong reason for referral. It is recommended that paediatricians and other clinicians involved in the care of young children should embark on a multidisciplinary process of assessment and training in the identification of non‐accidental head injury in very young children and babies, to reduce their risk of future harm. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Income, Deprivation, and Economic Strain. An Analysis of the European Community Household Panel

This paper is concerned with the relationship between household income and life-style deprivation, and their combined impact on households' perceptions of economic strain. It takes as a point of departure findings from a number of European countries showing that the relationship between income and deprivation is weaker than widely assumed and that relative income poverty lines may perform poorly in terms of identifying the most deprived households. It proceeds to examine how far these conclusions about income and deprivation can be generalized to the countries included in the first wave of the European Community Household Panel. Results show that five distinct dimensions of deprivation emerge from an overall European analysis and that these are consistent across individual countries. While a good deal of similarity is observed in the income-deprivation relationship, countries differ in the strength of relationship between income and what is termed current lifestyle deprivation' with the relationship being generally weakest in the richer countries. The implications of these findings for the use of relative income poverty lines are developed. Extending this analysis to an assessment of how income and deprivation combine to influence perceptions of economic strain, we show that within-nation reference group processes operating in a uniform manner across countries can account for the bulk of the variation in strain. Cross-national differences can be accounted for by corresponding variation in income and deprivation levels.

Teenage childbearing in Great Britain and the spatial concentration of poverty households

STUDY OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between the spatial concentration of deprived households and teenage non-marital childbearing. Associations with area deprivation are tested before and after allowing for levels of personal...

Deprivation and childhood obesity: a cross sectional study of 20 973 children in Plymouth, United Kingdom

OBJECTIVETo study the association between socioeconomic deprivation and childhood obesity.DESIGNCross sectional study.SETTINGAll state primary schools in Plymouth. Plymouth is a relatively deprived city in the United Kingdom, ranking 338th of...

Valuing Care: Turn-of-the-Century Conflicts between Charity Workers and Women Clients

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the New York Charity Organization Society (COS) often clashed with women clients about placing sick and disabled family members in hospitals and sanatoria. Although the COS has been viewed as cementing the traditional gender division of labor, case files suggest that the organization often encouraged institutionalization in order to free women to enter the labor force. Clients opposed the institutional placements the COS recommended and argued that home care was superior to care provided in medical facilities, institutionalization deprived households of critical assistance and imposed new responsibilities and anxieties, and deep bonds united family members. Despite enormous pressure to couch their arguments in terms of productivity and self-reliance, many clients spoke the language of emotion and intimacy. Caregiving was not just a set of exhausting tasks to them, but also an intensely personal relationship that endowed their lives with meaning.

Change in Family Work Status: Effects on Parent-Adolescent Decision Making

The interactions of parental work status, family integration, and sex of child on parent-adolescent decision making were examined in a 4-wave study of 504 adolescents and their mothers. 3 work status groups were compared. Deprived families reported a layoff or demotion at Time 1 and no recovery by Time 4. Recovery families reported similar work status losses at Time 1 and reemployment by Time 4. Nondeprived families reported stable employment at both times. Adolescents in deprived households, especially boys, reported the highest conflict with parents. Adolescents in recovery families reported high conflict when parents were unemployed, but levels declined when parents were reemployed. According to mothers, daughters in deprived households enjoyed the highest level of autonomy of any adolescent group.

Food consumption and poverty in rural Jamaica

The relationship between food consumption and poverty is explored at an integrated rural development project site. Household food consumption was estimated by a 24‐hour recall and socioeconomic data were obtained by questionnaire. The sample of 110 households was randomly selected from three functionally defined strata: households operating one acre (Landless), one to three acres (Deficit) and 3.1–5.9 acres (Subsistence). Protein‐energy ratios were generally adequate, but energy intakes below 80 percent of recommended levels were observed in almost one‐third of the households. Poverty conditions which differed in nature and intensity for the three strata were associated with deficits. Indications are that the solution is not a simple aggregate increase in food production, but rather it must involve development activities which increase the effective demand of food among the deprived households.

Competition in the Private-Rented Sector: Students and Low-Income Families in Brighton, Sussex

The expansion of student numbers in higher education in Britain at a faster rate than the provision of residential accommodation has resulted in an increased reliance by students on the private landlord. At the same time access to housing for owner occupation or to rent from municipal authorities has become more difficult for the most deprived sections of the community and they too turn to the private landlord. Paradoxically, although demand is increasing, the supply of privately rented accommodation is decreasing. The consequence is increased competition and rising rents. This paper examines the structure of competition in the furnished subsector of the private-rental market between students and families in housing need in Brighton: a town with a larger than average privately rented sector which is, however, declining, and with three institutions of higher education generating considerable student demand. THE questions of access to and allocation of scarce resources have assumed major importance in recent studies of the operation of the housing market in Britain. In an influential study of the Birmingham housing market published in 1967, Rex and Moorel demonstrated that households are differentially placed with regard to the means and criteria of access to valued forms of housing. While Rex and Moore suggested that 'there will be as many potential housing classes in the city as there are kinds of access to the use of housing',2 they singled out tenure as the key differentiating characteristic in the British housing market and argued that whereas owner occupation and council housing enjoyed legitimation in terms of the value standards of society-the former in terms of the ideal of a property-owning democracy and the latter in terms of the values of the welfare state-tenancies provided by private landlords were less highly valued and housed many of the most deprived households in the city. Subsequent studies have provided empirical evidence of the ways in which the allocative mechanisms in different tenures operate.3 Access to the property-owning democracy is determined by market mechanisms modified by credit systems. The key criterion of eligibility is income level, which at the present time of rapid inflation, high building, land costs and house prices and interest rates in double figures, immediately excludes those members of the population with below-average income levels, including low-paid workers, many newly married couples and students. As well as income, building societies, which are the main source of loan finance for house purchase, also take into account factors such as the applicant's age, sex, marital status and occupation,4 colour5 and characteristics of the property for which a loan is sought, such as its age, dwelling type and location.6 Access to local authority tenancies, on the other hand, is controlled by a process of bureaucratic allocation determined by formal criteria of need. Rules of eligibility commonly include residential qualifications, points systems to determine priority and screening of applicants by administrators.7 These tend to result in the exclusion of foreign and British-born in-migrants to cities, newly married couples and mobile low-income families, and single, young and mobile workers and students.

Big City DropoutsBig City Dropouts and Illiterates. Robert A. Dentler , Mary Ellen Warshauer

The new order of deprivation is mainly urban and it is an outgrowth of rural migration. As the city-wide migration of deprived households persists, central cities are affected to an extent that adult illiteracy contributes to the transmission of educational disadvantages .... Big city economies have changed from dependence upon cheap, abundant, unskilled labor to increasing dependence upon technical skills and job flexibility, two abilities correlated with literacy and with the level of formal education.' Having so interpreted recent secular changes in the United States, Dentler and Warshauer maintain that school leaving and adult illiteracy are phenomena to be understood in the context of the urban economy; in particular, as functions of poverty, of changes in the composition of the work force, and of the relationship between schooling and employment. Accordingly, they attribute variations in school dropout rates and rates of adult illiteracy to differences in the characteristics of cities.