Analysis and Evaluation of Child Poverty



Abstract

When the new labour government came to power in 1997, it promised to make the reduction in child poverty, one of its central aims. Prime Minister Blair famously remarked “Our historic aim will be for ours to be the first generation to end child poverty.... It is a 20 year mission” (Blair, 1999). Later on research was carried out that identified the causes of this phenomenon, in the UK. Since then, the emphasis of the policy was on the promotion of paid work among the parents of the poor children, and back then it was estimated that, by 2002, the poverty level would have gone down by a million children. What this essay will look at that, are the policies that labour put in place and their effects. What also bee seen is the way the present coalition government has decided to tackle the problem.

Introduction

Child poverty is one the major issues that face our world today. Every second child in the world at the moment is living in poverty. In the context of Britain, the statistics show that 3.5 million children are living in poverty (NCB, 2013). Out of these mentioned, 1.6 million are those that have to survive in dire amounts of poverty (barnyards, 2013). The essay primarily concerns itself with the problem of child poverty within the social framework of the UK. As a social problem, the levels of child poverty in the UK reflect the country's policies on the subject, and whether those policies have been successful or not. Children that grow up in poverty are at a higher risk of problems at a later stage in their lives. They tend to underperform in their schools, secure lower grades, and have more problems in their professional lives (NCB).

As a wealthy country, the uk's standard is only slightly better than that of OECD.(NCB) If, though compared to Denmark, which has a better record at reducing child poverty, we fare far less. The country has a child poverty rate of 3.7%, which is considered best by the oecd. If Britain were to follow that example, there would be 1 million children protected from poverty. During the conservative period running from 1979 onwards to 1997, the ratio of children living in poverty tripled (Piachaud D, Sutherland H, 2001). So when the labour government came to power in 1997, 4.5 million children were living in poverty. In this respect, it is interesting to note, that during the conservative era, there existed no agreeable definition of poverty amongst the lawmakers, and the statistics, though continued to be published were not subscribed to by the state (Piachaud D, Sutherland H,2000).

On the face of it, the problem looks much urgent if Britain is compared to the rest of the world. But if we also have a closer look we can understand the severity of the situation. Most of the poverty rates concerning children had remained more or less the same, with little fluctuations in ...