Analysis of the Child Poverty Assessment Method - Coursework Example

Policy Domain Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Grade Course Client Inserts Tutor’s Name 09/08/2012 Introduction Child poverty can be defined as the failure of provision of the necessities for a standard life of the children. UNICEF-IRC (2005) describes child poverty as a condition within a society where children are deprived of the material, spiritual and emotional resources to enhance their survival and healthy development. According to UNICEF-IRC (2005), child poverty concept is rather different from the general poverty as depicted in various developing countries and to some extent, within the developed countries. For example, UNICEF recounts that even in the developed countries where virtually all people are supposedly stable financially; provision of proper standards of life for the children has been a largely misunderstood concept. Alarmingly, even in urban areas of cities in the developed countries, child poverty is largely traceable. Moore (2009) states that the number of children living in poverty was recorded at13.3 million in the U.S. by 2007, having increased from 11.6 million in 2000. For U.S., an icon of economic development, this proves that child poverty is a challenge to public development that needs necessary attention by the relevant stakeholders (Moore 2009). Many other developed countries including Japan, the UK, Hungary and Belgium among others also record high rates of child poverty (Minoff 2006). Needless to say, child poverty is traced in virtually all developing countries. African countries, Asian countries, countries in the eastern parts of Europe, South American countries along with the Caribbean islands and Central America are examples (Minoff 2006). In recognition of the prevalence of child poverty in the UK, HM Government (2009) laid out a strategic plan to assess the levels of child poverty and subsequently intervene with the proper measures in quest to completely eradicate child poverty in the society. With an attempt to propose necessary policies that will practically see off child poverty cases, this study derives an analysis of the child poverty assessment method that can possibly bring the real picture of the problem in question into the open. Later, the study presents proposals of policies that will prove a necessary interventional strategy with respect to the need to fully counter the problem of child poverty. The proposed policy here – creation of youth clubs for children to reduce child poverty in specific areas in UK – is further supported with the necessary literature material. Overview of Child Poverty Index in the UK In order to effectively determine the child poverty index of a particular country, it is first important to begin with the financial capabilities corresponding with different households’ requirements for survival. Minujin (2005) points out that at a there exists a financial threshold in terms of household income that makes an excellent determinant of affordability of various important necessities per household and a correlative data over a wider region of study gives average needs of the respective region. In the case of children, their sole provider of the necessary material, spiritual and psychological resources for a healthy development remains the parents. Setting a monetary threshold that a breadwinner(s) needs to have to achieve the developmental needs of the children is therefore an important start. The threshold is referred as the poverty line (Bernard Van Leer Foundation 2010) and easily helps determine capacity of family leaders to meet the needs of their children. Barbado’s UK (2012) states that in UK, for a family consisting of two adults and two children requires a minimum of £352 per week to rank above poverty line. Incidentally, a good score of families in the UK, a country whose citizens have to endure high costs of living all round, literally cannot raise this amount of money (Minoff 2006). Barbado’s UK (2012) confirms that many of such families that fall below poverty line can only spend a maximum of £13 per day which translates to £91 in a week. In comparison with the £352 threshold, it is obvious that children from these families lack various necessities, which at this level are forcibly considered unaffordable luxuries (Bradbury 2003). Low earning is often associated with poor interaction between family members due to the inherent tension (Bernard Van Leer Foundation 2010). Low earning is also associated with odd jobs (Work and Pension Committee 2003). The parents certainly lack time to spend with their children at home and also lack the capacity to take their children out. Such children are likely to develop deleterious traits such as inferiority complex, low self-esteem and/or extraordinary aggressiveness (Minoff 2006). Work and Pension Committee (2003) adds that children below poverty line are also at the risk of not obtaining some of their deserving vital rights. Such include quality education, social amenities and technological resources. An Insight into Causes of Child Poverty in the UK Lynam and Novak (2000) suggest that in order to wholly eradicate cases of child poverty, of great importance is first to established the root of the current situation. By establishing what causes child poverty, the necessary interventional strategies will include the prevention of spread of poverty which is increasing with the increasing cost of living. The major step towards identifying the depth of the disaster is to use socio-economic aspects (Minoff 2006) of different households and thence identifying what may be the cause of child poverty. Major causes of child poverty in the UK are classified as follows; Single parenthood According to Work and Pension Committee (2003) and UNICEF-IRC (2005), children with only one parent are likely to experience child poverty. The situation worsens further when the single parent happens to be a mother. Minujin (2005) contends that children with single fathers are more likely to evade the wave of child poverty. Child poverty is in totality with complete orphans. Single parenthood means that the single parent always has all the family responsibilities resting on his or her shoulders (Minoff 2006). As so, the parent lacks enough time to spend with his or her kids and thus such children fall short of emotional and psychological support for healthy growth and development (Minoff 2006). Low income Poor family heads in the UK are associated with low-wage jobs that offer little or no benefits in return including the lack of provision of room for advancement (Minoff 2006). Children from such families will relatively lack material resources and social and physical amenities. It is obvious that as a response, such children will feel less privileged and may suffer from inferiority complex and/or low self-esteem as they grow (Minujin 2005). Large families and families with disabilities cases According to Hannon (2005), families with many members dependent on one central source of income are likely to experience child poverty. Presenting meals on the table is not enough for the children’s healthy development. Other requirements like high quality education and touring places may be hard to meet when demands from the family members are many. Barbado’s UK (2012) states that the cost of living for households with disabled individuals is high. On average, it has been estimated that it costs additional £99.15 weekly to bring up a child with disabilities in the UK (Barbado’s UK 2012) Minority ethnic groups Sadly, child poverty has been, according to various global findings, associated with particular minority ethnic groups in various countries (Minoff 2006). These minority groups are mostly workless in whichever country they are. According to Work and Pension Committee (2003), 48% of Black children in the UK live in poverty and when compared with the 27% of the White children, there is an indication of quite a wide margin of poverty index. The trend is real globally as indicated by the 63% Black children of Pakistan who live in total poverty (Moore 2009). Local Child Poverty Facts and Statistics Over the past 30 years, child poverty has been on the rise in the UK (Barbado’s UK 2012). Starting with 1968 when the child poverty index stood at 10%, child poverty had currently increased to 31% by 2002 (Work and Pension Committee 2003). While families living in poverty in the UK have only £13 per person to spend in a day (Barbado’s UK 2012), 58% of the children have one parent who either works on full time or part time basis. Luckily, according to Minoff (2006), virtually all political parties in the UK have agreed to the proposition to end child poverty cases in the UK by 2020. Local child poverty policies at work Among the various efforts and strategies to end child poverty cases in the UK is the Child poverty 2010 Act (HM Government 2011). The policy ensures that sustained actions have to be taken by the existing government leadership and too the various governments to come, with a central aim to eradicate child poverty in the UK. The Act provides that main role players will include the central government, and the local government as well as their officials (HM Government 2011). The Act has set out four major national targets towards which all the efforts will be directed for the next one decade (HM Government 2011). The targets here will be defined by four aspects of the lives of the poor children namely: relativity of the low incomes (10% of the children); a combination of both low income and deprivation of material resources (less than 5% of the children); those with absolute low income (less than 5% of the children; and those living in persistent poverty (unknown percentage of the children) (HM Government 2011). According to the Act, the UK government will be expected to provide strategies leads for up to 2020 and which will be reviewed and refreshed every three years (HM Government 2011). Policy Proposal The efforts of the UK government, as reiterated above, are a proof that child poverty is an existing national disaster. The policy above depicts the intensions of the government to eradicate child poverty by 2020. This is one of the major steps potential enough to see to it the problem in question comes to an end. However, the step is only at a national level and the indication thereof is that poverty eradication process will be a long term and thus a gradual process. This in turn means that specific problems at an individual level that are currently in place have to remain intact and only to be eradicated in some years to come. Given the nature haunting nature of child poverty from individual point of view, something have to be incorporated to assist in preventing the effects of this condition that certainly will show in the future lives of the current victims, such as self-worthlessness among others (Moore 2009). This justifies and introduces the proposal to create activities and sports clubs for the poor children who currently lack these important provisions from their parents. This will comprise providing healthy meals and engage children in various activities and sports as per choice of each child. This will not only aid in identifying various potential talents among the children, but also will function as a cure to overcome psychological and physical adversities that poor children may be experiencing. As the main problem is social isolation, children from poor backgrounds often feel disempowered and often have low esteem (Bradbury 2003). This problem will be countered by engaging them in group activities so that they feel recognized and assimilated in the society. As a matter of fact, it is a right of every child to participate fully in societal matters (Bradbury 2003). Undoubtedly, some of the children coming from poor backgrounds tend to be aggressive due to their experience of hardships and generally harsh living environments (Hannon 2005). The proposed project will see to it that such children are engaged in sport activities that will provide efficient grounds to overcome their aggressiveness and disobedience. The problem of malnutrition among the poor children is evident because it is likely that they are underfed or do not eat the correct mixtures in their diets. Providing healthy meals will serve as a proper solution. Poor children as well do not do well academically. The proposed intervention is to create homework groups within the clubs where children can meet and discuss while helping each other in the preparing for exams. Finally, lack of proper psychological and emotional support is often an aspect of poor children (Bradbury 2003). The intervention with clubs will enhance creation of social groups where children will be asked to express themselves while getting professional help where possible. The main aim for the creation of youth clubs is to increase the number of physical activities and social corridor where children will feel assimilated fully in the society. Ethnological Study Using Outcomes and Socio-Economic Status Before coming up with such a proposal as the one above, it is important to study the conditions that define individual in the society. Looking at the outcomes of children on various aspects on relative terms is a sure way of confirming the economic role of various social difficulties (Moore 2009). Moore (2009) highlights that children experiencing emotional problems among other socio-economic adversities often perform poorly and especially in academic fields. Linking such outcomes with the economic realities identified at household level, it will be easy to identify, locate and map the number of child poverty cases in different regions. The assumption thereof is that the public will respond positively to the offer and give their ideal and reliable information. The approaches to employ must convincing enough that the information being collected is not intended for ill because most of the victims of child poverty are sensitive and ready to concede the wrath of the problem silently. Stakeholders to Include: Health institutions at regional level are basically to be integrated to provide medical advice and treatment as well providing technical advice on how to handle different cases with hospitality. At national level, while this will appear a special program that reduces the government’s burden of child poverty, there is high hope that the government will accord the project the required infrastructural and financial support. Meanwhile, donors among other well-wishers plus the local religious affiliations, private and volunteer professional counsellors will be highly wooed to support the program. The expected religious and counselling support in particular will not be necessarily financial but guidance and some labour during occasional sessions. Religious affiliations, in addition, are perhaps the leading human rights activists and thus are considered the most influential counterparts for the success of the proposal and the program altogether. Local victims are expected to respond positively at which instance they will be hired for labour and they are expected to benefit financially as well. This will not close doors for local adults volunteers especially parents all of whom are expected. We expect that the government will mobilize local administrators to act as supervisors and directors with whose knowledge and experience, the project will be as suitable and successful as possible. Coverage The club centres will be equitably distributed with the concentration of child poverty per region. Most of the clubs will be situated at urban settings so as to target as many clients as possible and to make the project yield good results. Conclusion Child poverty, a condition where children are deprived of material, psychological and emotional resources, has been a real disaster globally (Bernard Van Leer Foundation 2010). With deep roots in among the developing countries, child poverty is evident among the major cities of the developed countries as well (Bernard Van Leer Foundation 2010). With the rising cost of living, many households fail to meet all the required necessities for a standard life, and in particular, this fails to present ideal atmosphere for a healthy development of children. The situation is worsened when these poor children lack one of the parents which many a times leads to low self-worthiness. In the UK, cases of child poverty are evident. While the government hopes to fully eradicate this problem by 2020, there problems at individual level that cannot wait to be solved in a number of years to come. With the solution needed now, this study proposes creation of youth clubs that will accommodate poor children and provide various amenities that are not offered at home. This proposal, as an interventional strategy, can be considered a success in reducing poor children’s negative conception themselves as the government interventions are gradually effected. References Barbado’s UK. 2012. It doesn’t Happen Here; The Reality of Child poverty in the UK. Barbado’s executive summary, pp3-6. Bernard Van Leer Foundation. 2010. Young children in cities: Challenges and opportunities. Early Childhood matters, 115, pp6-11. Bradbury, B. 2003. Child poverty: A review. Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services Policy Research Paper, 20, pp5-12. Hannon, L. 2005. Extremely poor neighbourhoods and homicide. Social Science Quarterly, 86, pp1418-1434. HM Government. 2009. Impact Assessment for Ending Child Poverty: Making it Happen. Child Poverty unit, pp4-13. HM Government. 2011. Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families’ Lives. A New Approach to Child Poverty, Cm 8061. Pp5-11. Lynam, D. R. & Novak, S. P. 2000. The interaction between impulsivity and neighbourhood context on offending: The effects of impulsivity are stronger in poorer neighbourhoods. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109:4, pp563-74. Minoff, E. 2006. The UK Commitment: Ending Child Poverty by 2020. Washington, DC: Centre for Law and Social Policy. Pp2-13. Minujin, A. 2005. Children Living in Poverty: Global context and Local policies. A review of child poverty definitions, measurements, and policies. Pp13-20. Moore, K.A. 2009. Children in Poverty: Trends, Consequences, and Policy Options. Child Research Brief, pp1-8. UNICEF-IRC. 2005. Child Poverty in Rich Countries. Florence: UNICEF, Innocenti Research Centre. Pp14-22. Work and Pension Committee. 2003. Child poverty in the UK. Second Report of Session 2003/04. Pp13-31. Read More