Poverty In Ireland Research Articles

Cribbed, Contained, and Confined?: The Care of Children under the Irish Poor Law, 1850–1920

Cribbed, Contained, and Confined?The Care of Children under the Irish Poor Law, 1850–1920 Virginia Crossman (bio) In July 1890, the Cork poor law guardian and philanthropist William D'Esterre Parker wrote to the Irish chief secretary, Arthur Balfour, lamenting the government's refusal to extend the system by which destitute children were supported outside the workhouse in the homes of foster parents. He expressed his deep regret "that the innocent children in our workhouses are to continue by the act of the Irish Local Government Board to be 'cribbed,' 'contained,' and 'confined' in Irish workhouses."1 Despite the concerted efforts of philanthropists such as Parker, the majority of children maintained under the Poor Law continued to be cared for within workhouses until the abolition of the workhouse system in independent Ireland in the early 1920s. The proportion of children within the total workhouse population declined from over 45 percent of inmates not in hospital in January 1852 to 14 percent in 1900 (see figure 1).2 Even in the second decade of the twentieth century, however, when official policy was to keep children out of the workhouse, many [End Page 37] union workhouses contained substantial numbers of children.3 This article examines the efforts of campaigners to remove children from workhouses and considers why these efforts were not more successful. In so doing, it explores attitudes to children and child care and to poverty and welfare more generally. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Children in Irish Workhouses. The Poor Law was intended to reform as well as relieve, and the desire to mold workhouse children into useful citizens remained a central preoccupation of both poor law officials and philanthropists throughout the post-Famine period. Thus, while little explicit provision was made for children under the Poor Law Act of 1838 beyond providing for separate accommodation for different age groups, workhouse rules specified that boys and girls who were inmates of the workhouse "shall, for three of the working hours at least every day, be instructed in reading,writing and arithmetic, and the principles of the [End Page 38] Christian religion, and other such instruction shall be imparted to them as shall fit them for service and train them to habits of usefulness, industry and virtue."4 Within the ranks of the needy, children were regarded as a special category, and over the course of the nineteenth century there was a growing sense that, unlike poor adults, poor children should be regarded as victims, not agents of their circumstances. However, as Harry Hendrick has argued, while children were frequently presented as victims, they were also seen as threats, with the potential to undermine public health, family cohesion, social stability, and economic progress.5 Poor children needed to be rescued, but society also needed to be protected from the dangers they posed. Responses to child poverty in Ireland reflected the combination of fear and concern implicit in this dual perception. Developments in Ireland need to be understood within the context of wider debates over the care of pauper children. Throughout the United Kingdom, philanthropists and social activists sought to remove children from workhouses and to provide specialist services for them. By the end of the century, moreover, there was growing pressure to actively intervene by removing children from criminal or abusive parents.6 However, whilst very similar arguments were put forward in favor of specialist services for children throughout the United Kingdom, very different policies were pursued in different regions. Despite official acknowledgment of the benefits of boarding out, the majority of poor law children in England and Ireland remained in some form of institutional care. In Scotland, the majority of children were boarded out.7 The enthusiasm of Scottish poor law authorities for boarding out was in keeping with the generally low level of institutional provision within the Scottish poor law system, especially compared to Ireland, where up until 1847, relief [End Page 39] could only be obtained within the workhouse; and even after this date indoor relief accounted for a substantial majority of recipients. Prior to the introduction of the Poor Law in 1838, there was no statutory system of poor relief in Ireland...

Poverty in Ireland in Comparative European Perspective

In this paper we seek to put Irish poverty rates in a comparative European context. We do so in a context whereby the Irish economic boom and EU enlargement have led to increasing reservations being expressed regarding rates deriving from the EU ‘at risk of poverty’ indicator. Our comparative analysis reports findings for both overall levels of poverty and variation by household reference person characteristics for this indicator and a consistent poverty measure for Ireland, the UK and five smaller European countries spanning a range of welfare regimes. Our findings demonstrate that the distinctiveness of Ireland’s situation lies not in the overall levels of poverty per se but in the very high penalties associated with being in a household where the household reference person is a lone parent or excluded from the labour market.

Child Well-Being, Child Poverty and Child Policy in Modern Nations: What Do We Know?

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 15 No. 2 (2005) ISSN: 1546-2250 Child Well-Being, Child Poverty and Child Policy in Modern Nations: What Do We Know? Vleminckx, Koen and Smeeding, Timothy M. (2001). Bristol: The Policy Press; 570 pages. $59.95. ISBN 1861342535. This book identifies child poverty as a priority concern for many industrialized nations. In rich countries with developed welfare states and with the resources to make a difference, child poverty nevertheless persists and it occurs at much higher rates in some countries than in others. Child poverty has implications over and above the material disadvantages suffered by the children: it has effects on their education, future employment and life chances more generally. Some policy regimes and family policies appear more effective in minimizing or tackling child poverty than others. This book aims to chart the prevalence of child poverty crossnationally for industrialized and some transition countries; explore the impact of child poverty on children’s outcomes; and examine “what works” in terms of policy and suggest what countries can learn from each other. These are clearly areas of 413 interest to a wide audience. The book provides both a point of reference for understanding differences in child poverty and a wide-ranging collection of papers on specific topics that readers may wish to exploit selectively. There are 20 chapters (plus an introduction and conclusion). While the chapters read together produce a rich cumulative understanding of child poverty research, many individual chapters are on topics that might interest readers with specialized interests. For example, there are chapters on time use among older children and young adults (Gauthier and Furstenberg) on child welfare in Central Asia (Falkingham) and on the relationship between national “values” and child welfare (Phipps). In charting differences in rates of child poverty across countries, the studies collected here all utilize the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) and its harmonized data on 25 countries, including most OECD countries, several East European countries and Taiwan. The opening chapter illustrates the power and potential of the LIS to contribute to cross-national research. It also illustrates a problem common to many crossnational studies: the potentially frustrating time-lag between date of research (and publication) and the date of the most recent waves of LIS data. Poverty and policy has changed since 1995, sometimes dramatically, and had done so even by 2001 when this book was published. The chapters attempt to achieve a balance between two approaches of comparative research: either covering one topic across a range of countries, with the risk of superficial treatment or inability to take meaningful account of institutional variation; or covering separate countries in depth and side-by-side, with the risk that differences between countries and the policy implications can only be inferred. Thus, chapters range from covering child poverty across 25 countries to covering a specific issue in one, such as change over time in child poverty in Ireland (Nolan), with many covering a selection of two, three or four countries. This approach makes sense in terms of illustrating how different questions need to be treated at different scales and the 414 importance of selecting countries for meaningful comparison of particular issues. On the other hand, it makes it hard at times to relate chapters to each other or to see what the volume as a whole (rather than as the sum of its constituent parts) can tell us about child poverty. In particular, I felt that the section on Outcomes, though it contained much of interest, did not clarify whether there were universal ill-effects of child poverty that could be generalized across all the countries considered, or whether the “outcomes” were simply aspects of child poverty, or were in fact consequences of it. The use of appropriate data to stress variation not only between but also within countries is a welcome feature. It is done at a regional level by Rainwater, Smeeding and Coder. Variation among population sub-groups is also treated in Frick and Wagner’s investigation of differences between immigrant and German-born ethnic German children; and in Christopher, England, McLanahan, Ross and Smeeding’s exploration of gender differences, their intersection with family policies and their implications for...

Quantifying the severity of fuel poverty, its relationship with poor housing and reasons for non-investment in energy-saving measures in Ireland

Fuel poverty has generally been calculated by quantifying the number of households spending in excess of 10% of income on home heating. This definition has a number of significant practical and scientific limitations. This paper employs self-reported data to calculate the severity of fuel poverty in Ireland to identify chronic fuel-poor households from occasional sufferers. It also assesses domestic energy-efficiency levels. Ireland is a useful case study as it demonstrates the highest variations in seasonal mortality and morbidity in northern Europe, both of which are associated with fuel poverty. Ireland is also experiencing extreme difficulties meeting its environmental emissions targets in light of recent spectacular economic growth. Reducing fuel poverty would lower energy-related emissions, assisting policy makers achieve these challenging targets. Furthermore, little empirical research has been undertaken on fuel poverty in Ireland. This paper identifies key social groups at risk by conducting detailed socio-economic and socio-demographic analyses. The relationship between fuel poverty and adverse housing conditions (damp, condensation) is also examined. Moreover, the reasons behind householders not investing in energy-saving measures are reported. The results show that Ireland suffers from similar levels of fuel poverty as the UK, with low-income households suffering the greatest. The key policy implications are outlined.

Child Well-Being, Child Poverty and Child Policy in Modern Nations: What Do We Know?

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 15 No. 2 (2005) ISSN: 1546-2250 Child Well-Being, Child Poverty and Child Policy in Modern Nations: What Do We Know? Vleminckx, Koen and Smeeding, Timothy M. (2001). Bristol: The Policy Press; 570 pages. $59.95. ISBN 1861342535. This book identifies child poverty as a priority concern for many industrialized nations. In rich countries with developed welfare states and with the resources to make a difference, child poverty nevertheless persists and it occurs at much higher rates in some countries than in others. Child poverty has implications over and above the material disadvantages suffered by the children: it has effects on their education, future employment and life chances more generally. Some policy regimes and family policies appear more effective in minimizing or tackling child poverty than others. This book aims to chart the prevalence of child poverty crossnationally for industrialized and some transition countries; explore the impact of child poverty on children’s outcomes; and examine “what works” in terms of policy and suggest what countries can learn from each other. These are clearly areas of 212 interest to a wide audience. The book provides both a point of reference for understanding differences in child poverty and a wide-ranging collection of papers on specific topics that readers may wish to exploit selectively. There are 20 chapters (plus an introduction and conclusion). While the chapters read together produce a rich cumulative understanding of child poverty research, many individual chapters are on topics that might interest readers with specialized interests. For example, there are chapters on time use among older children and young adults (Gauthier and Furstenberg) on child welfare in Central Asia (Falkingham) and on the relationship between national “values” and child welfare (Phipps). In charting differences in rates of child poverty across countries, the studies collected here all utilize the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) and its harmonized data on 25 countries, including most OECD countries, several East European countries and Taiwan. The opening chapter illustrates the power and potential of the LIS to contribute to cross-national research. It also illustrates a problem common to many crossnational studies: the potentially frustrating time-lag between date of research (and publication) and the date of the most recent waves of LIS data. Poverty and policy has changed since 1995, sometimes dramatically, and had done so even by 2001 when this book was published. The chapters attempt to achieve a balance between two approaches of comparative research: either covering one topic across a range of countries, with the risk of superficial treatment or inability to take meaningful account of institutional variation; or covering separate countries in depth and side-by-side, with the risk that differences between countries and the policy implications can only be inferred. Thus, chapters range from covering child poverty across 25 countries to covering a specific issue in one, such as change over time in child poverty in Ireland (Nolan), with many covering a selection of two, three or four countries. This approach makes sense in terms of illustrating how different questions need to be treated at different scales and the 213 importance of selecting countries for meaningful comparison of particular issues. On the other hand, it makes it hard at times to relate chapters to each other or to see what the volume as a whole (rather than as the sum of its constituent parts) can tell us about child poverty. In particular, I felt that the section on Outcomes, though it contained much of interest, did not clarify whether there were universal ill-effects of child poverty that could be generalized across all the countries considered, or whether the “outcomes” were simply aspects of child poverty, or were in fact consequences of it. The use of appropriate data to stress variation not only between but also within countries is a welcome feature. It is done at a regional level by Rainwater, Smeeding and Coder. Variation among population sub-groups is also treated in Frick and Wagner’s investigation of differences between immigrant and German-born ethnic German children; and in Christopher, England, McLanahan, Ross and Smeeding’s exploration of gender differences, their intersection with family policies and their implications for...

Targeting Poverty: Lessons from Monitoring Ireland's National Anti-Poverty Strategy

In 1997 the Irish government adopted the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS), a global target for the reduction of poverty which illuminates a range of issues relating to official poverty targets. The Irish target is framed in terms of a relative poverty measure incorporating both relative income and direct measures of deprivation based on data on the extent of poverty from 1994. Since 1994 Ireland has experienced an unprecedented period of economic growth that makes it particularly important to assess whether the target has been achieved, but in doing so we cannot avoid asking some underlying questions about how poverty should be measured and monitored over time. After briefly outlining the nature of the NAPS measure, this article examines trends in poverty in Ireland between 1987 and 1997. Results show that the relative income and deprivation components of the NAPS measure reveal differential trends with increasing relative income poverty, but decreasing deprivation. However, this differential could be due to the fact that the direct measures of deprivation upon which NAPS is based have not been updated to take account of changes in real living standards and increasing expectations. To test whether this is so, we examine the extent to which expectations about living standards and the structure of deprivation have changed over time using confirmatory factor analysis and tests of criterion validity using different definitions of deprivation. Results show that the combined income and deprivation measure, as originally constituted, continues to identify a set of households experiencing generalised deprivation resulting from a lack of resources.

Book Review: Women and Poverty in Ireland

Book Review: Women and Poverty in Ireland

Children and Poverty in Ireland

SUMMARY: The life chances of children and young people can only be understood in the context of their material circumstances. Through a review of what is known about children and poverty in Ireland today, North and South, this article highlights the causes and impact of poverty and makes the case for more resources to be committed to children and their carers in the interests of both social justice and economic prudence.

Emigration and poverty in prefamine Ireland

The relationship between emigration and poverty in Ireland before the famines of the 1840s is examined. In particular the authors attempt to discern whether emigration relieved or exacerbated the poverty of those who did not migrate. The various sources of migration data are reviewed and estimates of Irish emigration in the first half of the nineteenth century are presented. (ANNOTATION)

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Katznelson, I. 1981: City trenches. Urban politics and the patterning of class in the United States.Law, C. 1981: British regional development since world war I.Lee, M.‐G. editor, 1981: Toward a new community life: reports of the international Research Seminar on the Sae Maul Movement.Martin, R. L. editor, 1981: Regional wage inflation and unemployment.National Committee on Pilot Schemes to Combat Poverty 1981: Final report. Pilot schemes to combat poverty in Ireland 1974–80Newton, K. 1980: Balancing the books: financing problems of local government in west Europe.Sharpe, L. J. editor, 1981: The local fiscal crisis in western Europe: myths and realities.Pacione, M. editor, 1981: Problems and planning in third world cities.Saunders, P. 1981: Social theory and the urban question.

Industrialization and Poverty in Ireland and the Netherlands

ing for the moment from large internal variations within each, were in the level of development of the agricultural sector and the survival of certain remnants of the golden age in the Netherlands, which had no counterpart in Ireland. Dutch agricultural sector was severely hit by the potato famine, and although the rural and urban poor, who depended on potatoes, could obtain little help from the modern sector, the bulk of the agricultural sector was sufficiently wealthy to allow the economy to recover rapidly and in the i85os to start a slow but ultimately successful ascent toward industrial prosperity. As noted, the Dutch economy could still count on a colonial empire, a maritime sector, and a substantial class of rentiers-all in one way or another a heritage of a glorious past. None of these relics introduced much of a dynamic element into the Dutch economy. famine in the late I84os in the Netherlands was therefore 41 Scottish relief aid was organized by Sir Edward Pine Coffin who, despite his name, prevented mass starvation. Malcolm Gray, The Highland Potato Famine of the I840's, Economic History Review, VII (I955), 366. Other factors not directly attributable to the level of economic development were also at work in Scotland, such as landlord attitudes toward tenants, which were very different than in Ireland. Flinn, Scottish Population History,

Poverty in Ireland 1815–45

The extent of Irish poverty in the period 1815–45 has been lost sight of because of the magnitude of the disaster which befell the country in the late 1840S during the great famine. Yet the great famine was not the first or only famine in nineteenth-century Ireland. It was merely the worst in a series which ended as recently as the 1890S. The purpose of this paper is to examine its effect on folk life.