20 July 2009 – Publication of DWP research report 594: "Living in Poverty: A review of the literature on children's and families' experiences of poverty"
This report presents the findings from an extensive review of recent research examining the views and experiences of low-income children and parents, covering topics such as housing, schools, neighbourhoods, public services and family life. The author draws on evidence from in-depth interviews, focus groups, group work, case studies, participatory workshops and action research to describe the lived experience of contemporary poverty amongst children and parents in the UK.
The key findings of the report on the impact of poverty on children are that poverty can pervade and disrupt all aspects of children’s lives:
- causing material deprivation (lack of toys, clothes, food, bedding)
- restricting opportunities at school (inability to pay for uniforms, study guides, trips)
- resulting in bullying and stigma (due to visible signs of poverty)
- restricting chances to make and sustain friendships (costs of attending/hosting social events)
- creating tensions with parents (who have to work long hours or rely on childcare)
- generating additional responsibilities (housework, caring responsibilities, employment)
- generating anxiety about finances, debt and parents’ well-being
- via low quality housing (with children having difficulty sleeping, studying or playing at home)
- via neighbourhood deprivation and lack of safe, local and low-cost leisure facilities.
Children are not passive ‘victims’ of poverty: many employ coping strategies such as taking jobs so they can contribute financially, taking on caring duties so parents can work, and restricting financial demands (for example, not telling parents about school trips to reduce parental stress).
The key findings of the report on the impact of poverty on parents are that parenting in poverty requires a continual balance between conflicting demands within the restrictions of a low income:
- Meeting own needs versus meeting children’s needs (e.g. going without food so children can eat)
- Meeting social norms versus buying essential goods (e.g. finding money for Christmas festivities )
- Meeting childcare costs versus forgoing employment opportunities
- Working long hours in low-income employment versus spending time with children
- Taking on unstable employment versus providing stability for family
- Spending money on supervised play/leisure v allowing play in dangerous environments
- Buying essential goods versus saving for future expenditure
- Accessing expensive credit versus going without essentials
- Many low-income families struggle to negotiate the benefits system and late and missed payments and over-payments can exacerbate stress and financial strain. Under these constant strains, parents’ ability to provide financial and emotional support for their children can be compromised.
Research into the subjective experience of living in poverty found that while there is a growing body of evidence in this field, more research is needed, particularly into the experiences of children in low-income working families, disabled children and children and families from ethnic minority groups, and marginalised groups such as asylum seekers.
Although most of the engagement with low-income families by stakeholders is robust and often innovative, some from organisations without research expertise is not methodologically rigorous enough to effectively inform policy making. Stakeholders should address this so that key insights from their engagement are not lost to the evidence base.
The author, Tess Ridge, is a Senior Lecturer of Social Policy at the University of Bath. Her research interests are childhood poverty and social exclusion, children and social policy, family policy, social security policy and comparative social security, especially support for children and families. She has extensive experience of qualitative research with low-income children and families and has published a number of studies in this area.
Notes to Editors
- This report is published in the DWP research report series (report number 594). It can be found on the internet at Research Reports 1990-2008.
- This project was carried out by an independent research organisation, the Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy, University of Bath. The report author was Tess Ridge.
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