Children and Youth in Disadvantaged Situations - Literature review Example

Running header: children and youths in disadvantaging situations Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: Children and youth in disadvantaged situations According to The Health Inequalities Research Collaboration (HIRC), children and youth living in disadvantaging situations include children and youths living in extreme poverty. HIRC further defines all children and youth who live in families that spend more than 58 percent of their earnings on food, clothing or shelter as living in disadvantaging situations. The value of extreme poverty in this case depends on the family size and place of residence. A study carried out by HIRC indicated that 25 percent of youths and children in the country live in disadvantaged situations. The study further revealed that 59 percent of children and youths who live with lone parents live in disadvantaged situations. Disadvantage does not just involve lack of money. It also includes the environment in which the children grow up such as family characteristics, the neighboring environment, availability of schooling and recreational opportunities etc. According to HIRC, Such children may have parents who are not educated,, young parents, single mothers or unemployed parents. They may also have inadequate housing, insecure neighborhoods and neighborhoods that lack necessary communal resources. HIRC states that these circumstances impacts negatively on their growth and development and their quality of life. This paper aims at analyzing the experiences of these children and youths, the factors that expose them to their experiences and the efforts made by various institutions to alleviate the experiences. Boystown (2009) describes social exclusion as lack of resources, rights, goods and services and hence inability to participate in normal activities that the majority of society members participate in whether at social cultural or economic arena. This in turn, affects the quality of life of an individual, equity and societal cohesion. According to a study carried out by the centre for health and research, disadvantaged youths and children experience social exclusion and inequality in a number of ways. The study indicated that over 20 percent of the youths and children in our country are unable to access quality medical care due to high levels of poverty. The effect of this is the high level of mortality among the disadvantaged compared to the normal youths and children. The studies further revealed that owing to inability to access good health care, the children usually have various types of developmental problems which make them unable to live normal lives. The youths and children are also not able to access the right education. Another study carried out by Murdoch children institute of University of Melbourne indicated that most disadvantaged children and youths do not have any means of financing their education. This forces them to drop out of school at early age and seek wage employment with which to satisfy their basic needs. Consequently over 50 percent of the children are not able to continue with their education past the basic levels. The study also associated the children’s poor performance to emotional stress and lack of basic needs. The researches also revealed that majority of the children do not have access to proper housing. This forces them to stay in the streets in risky structures while others live in refugee camps. Living in unsafe environments exposes the children and youths to drugs and other forms of crime. According to the study, this results to social exclusion as they are seen as a threat to the society. As a result, most of them become imprisoned every now and then. Factors that contribute to their experiences According to Bennet (2008), many factors contribute to the experiences of the youths and children living in disadvantaged situations. Research by the Australian alliance for children and youth (ARACY) indicates that 60 percent of children living with lone parents and those who are orphaned do not have access to the basic needs. Poverty has also been blamed for their experiences. ARACY argues that although most of the youths and children like education (as they see it as the only means of getting out of their disadvantaging situation), they are unable to continue with schooling due to lack of finances. Most of the children drop out of school to seek wage employment in a bid to meet their basic needs. ARACY also associates their inability to access high paying jobs to lack of the skills required in the performance of such jobs. This in turn limits their access to quality health care On the other hand; lack of well paying employment limits their access to proper health care as they lack money with which to seek proper treatment. ARACY further blames lack of education to their poor health status due to ignorance of the basic hygienic principles. Furthermore, they are they are forced to go without proper food most of the times hence resulting to more deterioration of their health. As a result of poor health conditions and exposure to risky situations, their mortality level increases compared to the rest of society members. The youths and children also live in areas where drug abuse and crime is the order of the day. As a result, they get exposed to drug abuse and crime and thus get rejected by the rest of the society. As a result, most of them end up in various jails for drug abuse and participation in various crimes. Effect of the experiences on the health and well-being of the individual and society As earlier stated, the children and youths living in disadvantaged situations do not have access to quality education. According to Australian institute for health and welfare (AIHW), lack of education limits access to information regarding health matters. Therefore, the children can not use such information in developing a healthy life style such as proper diet, physical exercises etc. this can be associated to their constant exposure to health risks such as nutritional related diseases. They also involve themselves in excess use of drugs in an attempt to reduce stress. Jean ( 2008) asserts that drug abuse also exposes them to health risks associated with the drugs although they are always not aware of this due to lack of academic knowledge. AIHW asserts that the children may regularly become unproductive due to sickness caused by drug abuse and lack of hygiene. Drug abuse also exposes their families to domestic violence regularly. Another effect of their experiences is the exposure of the entire society to insecurity and crime. Consequently, the society views them as a threat while they see the society in the same way. This leads to increased crime in the society. Working in an unsafe environment also exposes them to health risks which include accidents and injuries. Lack of adequate income also limits their ability to purchase resources that support and protect health such as healthy foods, proper housing in safe neighborhoods. This also limits their their access to better health and preventive services. Policies that impact on the disadvantaged children and youths The government has developed a number of policies aimed at addressing the challenges faced by the children and youths living in disadvantaging situations. One of such policies includes the social policy by the department of human services and strategic directions. The aim of the policy is the improvement of the living conditions of the disadvantaged through the provision of housing and community services to them. The policy enshrines the disadvantaged interests relating to housing at heart in decision making. The policy provides arrangements aimed at achieving stability for the disadvantaged children unable to live safely at home in order to ensure their healthy development. The policy has improved the lives of the disadvantaged children and youths by boosting their ability to access proper housing. This in turn, should lead to better health since exposure to health risks is greatly reduced. The government has also come up with a health policy for the disadvantaged youths and children. Nyssens (2006) says that this is in line with the UN declaration on children rights to live comfortably. As such, the government aims at providing free medical care to these youths and children. This will be a great boost to the youths and children thus enabling them to live comfortably. The disadvantaged youths and the political system The various political institutions in the country have been using their influence in order to boost the living conditions for the disadvantaged youths and children. Some of the municipals have used millions of dollars in providing suitable homes for the youths. The municipals also encourage individuals within the municipalities to help the youths achieve the various goals in their lives. Dawson (2005) asserts that the parliament has also passed various legislations aimed at minimizing the experiences of the youths and children living in disadvantaging situations. The most notable legislations include the social policy on the provision of suitable housing to the disadvantaged groups. The political system has also come up with suitable labor laws that are a great boost to the youths and children. The laws prohibit the employment of minors hence ensuring that the minors do not drop out of school to seek for wage employment. The labor laws also stipulate the minimum wage to be paid to anyone. This is advantageous to the youths, and it helps to boost their lives. Various members have also lobbied successfully for the provision of cheaper medical services for the disadvantaged groups. They have also come up with various policies aimed at providing cheaper education to the youths. Despite the above benefits, the political system is blamed for doing little to alleviate the experiences of the youths. Politicians have in the past used the children and youths to gain politically without much benefit to the youths. The smith family and the disadvantaged youths and children The smith family is a non governmental and non profit making organization that works with the youths and children living in disadvantaged situations. According to Everydayhero.com.au (2010), the organization recognizes that without support, the disadvantages experienced by the group will be passed to the next generation and hence give rise to a disadvantaged society. The organization achieves its objectives through the provision of scholarships and medical services to the disadvantaged. Other services provided by the smith family are counseling, out of home care, youth justice and work as well as social development and life skills. The smith family has been successful in implementing its agenda. It is currently helping 27000 youths and children in disadvantaging situation at various levels of education. Many youths have also gone through their programs to become responsible people in the society. In order to achieve its goal of more caring and cohesive Australia, the organization seeks donations from well wishers as well as partnering with other similar organizations. References: Everydayhero.com.au 2010, The smith family, viewed 5 may 2010, http://www.everydayhero.com.au/charity/search_for_a_charity?terms=2&search_type=ta g. Bennet, M 2008, Economic disadvantage in complex family systems: expansion of family stress models, Clinical child and family psychology review, vol. 113, no.3, pp 145-161. Jean, P 2008,Social exclusion and inequalities in australia, Elservier, sydney. Boystown 2009, Youth social exclusion a global concern , viewed 5 may 2010, http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:G_C5F9qA7O4J:www.boystown.com.au/d ownloads/rep/BT-Youth-Social- Exclusion.pdf+causes+of+social+exclusion+and+inequalities+among+disadvantaged+yo uths+and+children+in+australia.&hl=en&gl=ke&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESguPLZE8RJYn J9uzPe_OV3GrIF-Wn8k6RZyjgK- v8CZR1264WKHbl9LRKPJCLTUma2X9S6dGve9JlOUmQUtOuOa3p1k- KMAGhVEV6N25ySsm59lcpa- OCQVgQ6Cmyu3qXDf5Vyc&sig=AHIEtbTCMuODCzHkrTz52qxzYhZapmLobQ Nyssens, M 2006, Social enterprise –at the crossroads of market, public policies and civil society, Rutledge, London. Dawson, M 2005, The role of politics in alleviating the problems of the disadvantaged groups, Australian journal on social inclusion, vol. 21, no. 3, pp 45-78. Read More