Child Poverty and Its' Impact on the Wellbeing of the Child
By
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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DECLARATION
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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii
DECLARATIONiii
CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1
Background of the Study1
Rational of the Study2
Significance of the Study3
Overview of the Chapters4
CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW7
Family Income and Poverty10
Income Volatility11
Family Poverty and Children's Adolescents13
Childhood Poverty and School Achievements17
Family Disruption and Poverty20
REFERENCES25
CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Child poverty has become a major problem than that of poverty in general. Valuing Children, Valuing Parents, (2004) points out that UK is one of the industrialised countries with high rate of child poverty. A survey conducted by Valuing Children, Valuing Parents found out that in UK nearly 50% of children were at risk of living in a low-income household. Poverty has a negative impact on a child's health, development and wellbeing. According to the Every Child Matters Green Paper (2003), all children have a right to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution to society and achieve economic wellbeing, however poverty has deprived children this right.
Studies have shown that poverty does not only stunts, children's growth but also affects their ability to learn. Children from poor backgrounds score considerably low on measures of vocabulary and communication skills, knowledge of numbers, copying and symbol use, ability to concentrate and cooperative play with other children than children from higher income households. Children living in an environment of poverty and deprivation are at high risk of exposure to violence, crime, family disruption, and separation from their family environmental toxins, inadequate nutrition, maternal depression, parental substance abuse, trauma and abuse, and low quality child care. As a result of this they are more likely to use children and family services. A study conducted by Bebbington and Miles (1989) found out that in UK children from poor background are 700 times more likely to become looked after.
Even though there is clearer indication of the link between poverty and social problems experienced by children and their families, Valuing Children, Valuing Parents has indentified that practitioners and policy makers are reluctant to acknowledge this link. Additionally Davis & Wainwright, (2005) also point out that the professionals who work with people living in poverty often do not adopt a “poverty-aware approach” Davis and Wainwright argue that social workers in Britain have failed to consider poverty as the root of social problems and do not focus on its mitigation.
Rational of the Study
In past studies, research has focused on the negative outcomes of low-income families on children, but ...