Why child poverty levels in the UK so high?

Child poverty as a social problem has become a significant issue in the UK. Its definition itself has become quite controversial. This essay will use the definition set by the government. New Labour has defined child poverty as any child living in a household with below 60% of average income after housing. (www.society.guardian.co.uk) It has grown substantially in the 1980s and 1990s. The recent increase in child poverty is particularly a British phenomenon. According to 1994 European Community Household Panel Survey, the UK had the highest child poverty rates of nine EU countries in 1993.Though USA and Russia have higher rates of child poverty, but Adelman and Bradshaw’s research in 1999, showed that the rate of increase in Britain is unmatched. (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2000, 110) However, recent study, named ‘Child well-being, child poverty and child policy in modern nations’ published by an international study group has argued that the UK has the second highest child poverty rates in the European Union. Italy has the highest rates of children living in below the poverty line at 19.5%, compared to 16.2% in Britain and just 2.4% in Sweden. (www.society.guardian.co.uk) According to the figures, the level of child poverty in the UK is very high in comparison to other European countries except Italy. The essay will try to explain the causes such as unemployment, family structure, marital status, ethnicity, housing which lead to high rate of child poverty in the UK.

There are various factors related with child poverty. Therefore, the causes can vary according to their factors. However, the causes of child poverty can be direct as well as indirect. Lack of resource is a direct cause of child poverty and lack of parental employment, suitable jobs or qualifications, and sometimes discriminations and racism, can be regarded as an indirect cause of child poverty. (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2000, 113) On the other hand, low paid jobs, high living cost, family structure, housing, ethnicity, etc play a very significant role in causing high level of child poverty.

Unemployment is one of the key causes of child poverty. The unemployed people have to rely on government benefits to meet their basic necessities. Still, according to the report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), in practice many entitled families do not claim mean-tested benefits; perhaps they do not know how or do not want to claim. (www.ifs.org.uk) In this way, children of this group become easy prey to poverty. Besides, Adelman and Bradshaws’ (1999) research argued that, children in ‘unemployed benefit units’ are over five times more likely than others to be poor. (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2000, 113) As said by Miller (1993), the rise of poverty is the result of three related factors and they are: a significant level of unemployment, the increase in low paid work and the growth of ‘flexible’ employment. (Bilton, 2002, 79) In Miller’s point of view, men in unskilled job and low-paid jobs are most vulnerable to unemployment and women make up the vast majority of part-time and low–paid workers. For people in low paid jobs and unskilled jobs, it becomes very difficult to maintain their families. Without a decent earning, coping with high living cost especially in urban areas become a tough task. A study done by Townsend(1979) found that children in unskilled manual working-class households had a 77 per cent chance of being poor and this rose to 93 per cent when there were three or more children in the family. (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2000, 108)

To eliminate child poverty, the government has undertaken a mission which wants to halve it by 2010 and abolish it by 2020. Most of the government's attention is focused on getting parents into work as various studies shows that most children in poverty come from no-income families. (www.society.guardian.co.uk)

In the United Kingdom, family structures and sizes are changing gradually. There are different types of family like nuclear families, lone parent families, cohabiting families, foster families and so on. Family changes have caused a dramatic effect on British society. In recent years the marriage rate has decreased. Moreover, divorce rate is high in this country. Teenage pregnancy is also a frequent occurrence. These changes have a significant effect on child poverty. The recent review of the literature, on children of divorced parents, done by Rodgers and Pryor in 1998, has argued that they are more likely to be in poverty and to be poorer when they are adults. (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2000, 38) Furthermore, research done by Adelman and Bradshaw (1999) argued that the marital status of parents is an important factor associated with child poverty. While married couples have experienced less child poverty rate, lone parent families has a higher rate of child poverty. The research also shows that poverty has increased fastest among children in two groups: those with no full-time working parent and those living with a lone parent. (May, Page & Brunsdon, 2000, 111) Sizes of the family are also a significant one in respect of the high rate. As a general trend, families with more than two children are more likely to suffer from poverty.

Some research shows that there is a relationship between ethnicity and child poverty. According to a new report published by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), people from ethnic minority groups in Britain are significantly more likely to be living in poverty. Around a third of all children are living in poverty but disadvantage is deeper among children in ethnic minority groups as a whole and some groups in particular. (www.cpag.org.uk) Like, Adelman and Bradshaws’(1999) research found that people in ethnic minority group, especially Bangladeshi and Pakistani families are facing staggeringly high poverty rates. The report published by CPAG argued that 73 per cent of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children live in income poverty; 63 per cent of Black African children and 40 per cent of Caribbean children. The report concludes that while the causes of poverty vary, there is evidence that discrimination and racism continues to play a critical role in contributing to ethnic minority poverty. On the other hand, there are other factors which are related with child poverty in ethnic groups like internal as well as external ones. Ethnic people in Britain have a strong younger age profiles. Lone parenthood is very pivotal in black Caribbean families, which is one of the main reasons of child poverty. Other factors such as low level of female activities in financial sectors, concentration in low paid sectors, and lowest level of qualifications are very crucial problems which contribute to high level of child poverty in the UK. Moreover, family size is also playing an important role in this respect. Large families in Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups (families with three or more children) have a high rate of child poverty.

Poor housing is also a cause to child poverty. A briefing paper published jointly by End Child Poverty and Shelter (ECPC) argued that the poor housing is an important cause of child poverty. Homelessness, overcrowding or poor conditions of houses can have a severe effect on children. Eventually it leads to child poverty. Moreover, it argued that the Government will not meet its target to end child poverty unless the plight of hundreds of thousands of children living in bad housing is tackled. In the briefing, Graeme Brown, Development Director at End Child Poverty, said that 3.9 million children are experiencing the misery of poverty. So ff the Government is serious about ending child poverty, they must tackle housing and give children the chance they deserve to grow up in a decent home. Therefore, poor housing effects children’s condition in society and it creates the situation of child poverty to some extent. (http://www.ecpc.org.uk/keyfacts.asp)

Child poverty has become a major problem in Britain. The government and various social institutions are very concerned about this problem. It is also creating awareness in public as children are the future of the society. Various causes have been put forward by different institutions to cope with this social problem. In conclusion, it can be argued that though there are lots of reasons behind high rate of child poverty in Britain, it is unemployment, family structure, ethnicity, poor housing and issues related with these causes, which are the key f actors to contribute to child poverty