Are children affected by their experience of poverty?

Research carried out by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) showed a relationship between poverty in childhood and well-being as adults, demonstrating that child poverty can leave a damaging long-term legacy.

Health/Well-being
Children born into poverty are more likely to have a lower birth weight, high infant mortality and poorer health than better off children.

The diets of people on low incomes are often nutritionally poor, relying on ‘cheap calories’ from processed low-cost food. NCH’s study found that mothers sometimes went without food to meet the needs of their children. A Barnardo’s study found that this was especially true in the school holidays when families were managing without free school meals. An NCH/Barnardos report on rural poverty found that access to affordable food was a major issue for families living in rural areas.

There is a strong correlation between childhood accidents and deprivation. Poor children are 15 times more likely to die in a fire at home than better-off children and three times more likely to be hit by a car.

The Department for Work and Pensions Opportunity for All Sixth Annual Report 2004 reveals that the likelihood of becoming a teenage mother was almost ten times higher for a girl whose family was in the lowest social class in 1999 compared with the highest social class. The report also reveals that the death rate for babies of teenage mothers was 60 per cent higher than for babies of older mothers. This group were also shown to have low birth-weight babies. The UK has the highest teenage birth rate in Europe and Wales has had a consistently higher rate than England.

The Opportunity for All Sixth Annual Report also shows that pupils in receipt of free school meals (used as a proxy for low income) are more likely to smoke than those not in receipt of free school meals.

Housing and Homelessness
Conditions such as homelessness and chronic over-crowding significantly impact upon a child’s physical, mental and social development and well-being. Overcrowding increases the risk of infectious or respiratory disease. Damp, mould and condensation can cause a range of illnesses such as asthma and allergies. Poor housing conditions have been shown to cause excessive stress for children and adults leading to long term depression and anxiety. Cramped housing can lead to poor hygiene and limited cooking facilities can lead to a poor diet. Children in bed and breakfast accommodation are twice as likely to visit A&E with burns and scalding. People with asthma are more than twice as likely to live in damp houses and that children have a greater prevalence of respiratory symptoms as well as headaches and fevers compared to children in dry houses. The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) has estimated that Wales has among the highest levels of asthma in the world while at the same Wales has some of the poorest housing in the UK.

“A mother and her one-year old son came to Shelter because they had permanent coughs and colds caused by the damp in their flat. The walls and windows were black with mould. The mother could not leave her child’s cuddly toys out in his room, or they would be covered in mould” End Child Poverty and Shelter, Child Poverty, Housing & Homelessness Briefing Paper

Debt
People on low incomes often experience debt. A third of households with incomes of less than £9,000 a year have problems with debt. Costs of debt repayments often result in families going without essential items. Other costs of debt are those incurred on health, relationships and quality of life. A CAB report found that a quarter of clients in debt were seeking treatment for stress depression and anxiety from their GP.

Educational attainment
The correlations between poverty, social class and poor educational experience and attainment have been clearly established. Poverty affects the likelihood of progressing through school to attain formal educational qualifications. The Department for Work and Pensions Opportunity for All Sixth Annual Report 2004 reveals that children who receive free school meals are much less likely to gain five or more GCSEs than children who do not. The attainment levels for children in care continue to be much lower than the average for all children.

Children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to play truant and to be excluded from school. Access to and completion of Higher Education are significantly affected. A task-and-finish group of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Local Government Association examined the factors which contribute to the gap between performance in schools. The Group found that there is a strong relationship in the secondary phase between levels of disadvantage and performance.

Although education is free, there are a lot of ‘extras’ that families are expected to pay for. Children and young people from poorer families often miss out on school trips and activities.

“Teachers don’t understand that we have problems at home – we’re passed round to different teachers and end up walking around school. Getting kicked out of school is down to stress at home for poor families and teachers not prepared to listen and help out with problems” Young person, Listen Up! Children and Young People Talk: About Poverty, Save the Children 2003

Crime
The areas most affected by crime and poor investment in infrastructure are the very areas where the poorest children live and are brought up. Being a victim of crime can have a more devastating effect on people on low incomes because they may not have home contents insurance.

“You can’t get access to anything except drugs, you can get any amount of them as cheap as you like”(Mother)‘The Good Life' The impact of Rural Poverty on Family Life in Wales”, Barnardo’s Cymru and NCH Cymru, 2003

Participation
Poverty impacts on the opportunities for children and young people to participate fully in their communities; to engage in social activities; and upon their education and training experiences and transitions to independence. Children and young people living in poor households and their families often experience difficulties in accessing and benefiting from services. Disadvantaged or rural communities are often socially isolated by the lack of facilities, infrastructures, areas for safe play and services to support labour market participation. Barriers to accessing services can be physical such as distance, lack of transport, cost of transport and having limited mobility or due to the stigma attached to accessing them or self reliance. The accessibility of leisure and social activities is a major issue for young people. The cost and availability of transport is a key factor in young people’s social exclusion and feelings of isolation. Young people linked boredom and the lack of facilities to youth crime, alcohol and drug abuse, mental health problems and anti-social behaviour.

“It’s a £20 taxi fare round trip to the swimming pool. They said I could claim it back. That’s if you’ve got the money in the first place.” Parent with disabled child The Good Life? The Impact of Rural Poverty on Family Life in Wales”, Barnardos & NCH 2003

Stigma
Children from poor families are often excluded from participating in school activities through financial disadvantage and feel the pressure of social stigma through ‘inappropriate’ dressing and through receiving free school meals. One in five children fail to take up their entitlement to free school meals. Research from Save the Children found that poor children felt they were missing out and stigmatised because they could not afford the proper school uniform or essential school equipment.

“People don’t claim free school meals out of embarrassment. I would let people with money go ahead of me in the queue so they wouldn’t see” 12 year old boy, Listen Up! Children and Young People Talk: About Poverty, Save the Children 2003

Are there any factors that can reduce the harm of poverty?

Research has shown that there are a number of factors that can help reduce the impact poverty has on a child’s cognitive, behavioural and emotional development. These factors are children living in less severe poverty or for a shorter time; the quality of family relationships; the child’s own self esteem, levels of support and management of attitudes to stigma/poverty within school and levels of support and co-ordination of services within the neighbourhood. Policies that attempt to increase the impact of these factors will however have a limited impact if children continue to have inequality of outcomes in education, leisure and employment opportunity. For children living in poverty to fulfil their potential the only true prevention is to end child poverty.

What do children and young people in Wales think?

Children’s own accounts of what it is like to be poor can increase our understanding of the impact on families of living on a low income. For anti-poverty strategies to be successful it is important to allow children’s own voices to be heard. Consultations with children and young people in Wales by Save the Children, West Rhyl Young People’s Project and the Welsh Assembly’s Child Poverty Task Group have all identified a set of themes and messages about the effects of poverty on the lives and experiences of children and young people. Children and young people of all ages raised issues relating to education, health, crime, drugs, participation, leisure, transport, the pressures placed on families living on a low-income and the effect of stigma that living in poverty brings.