Childhood Poverty in Wealthy Nations: A Global Perspective, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The issue of childhood poverty is one that provides a significant area of interest to researchers as well as being of serious concern for social, political, and economic reasons. Much has been written about the global scale of poverty and the economic disparity between first-world nations –such as the United States and the nations of Western Europe- and the developing world. While it may largely be accepted as a given that poverty is a primary marker of life in the developing world, the widening gap of income inequality in first-world nations may be serving as a bellwether for looming economic catastrophe. An enormous body of research and literature has been devoted to the issue of childhood poverty; several examples of such literature are examined herein. These reports and studies explore issues of childhood poverty from several angles; some draw comparisons and contrasts from within the borders of individual nations, while others take a broader view, measuring statistical evidence and other information across a spectrum of national and geographical regions. In sum the combined weight of these reports indicates that childhood poverty is a growing problem on a global scale, and one that portends looming economic catastrophe as the underpinning supports of economic well-being that have largely defined contemporary Western societies are eroded by the destructive forces of widespread and systemic poverty.

Childhood Poverty in First-World Nations

A report published in 1997 by the Annual Review of Sociology entitled” Poverty and Inequality among Children” attempts to place childhood poverty in the United Sates into perspective using comparative methodologies. Before launching his discussion about such a comparative approach to understanding childhood poverty, Lichter describes the litany of potential problems associated with childhood poverty. Among the many ways Lichter notes that living in poverty can negatively impact children are problems associated with physical growth, cognitive development, and social adjustment (Lichter, 1997). Moreover, children raised in poverty often carry these problems into adulthood; such adults are more likely to continue living in poverty, demonstrate limited economic productivity, become or remain dependent on welfare, and exhibit undesirable traits related to intelligence, education, and social adjustment and other issues (Lichter, 1997). With these and other problems in mind, Lichter clearly establishes that childhood poverty is an issue of serious concern with very real, practical implications for children and for the adults they will become. Having established such a position, however, Lichter goes on to assert that contemporary standards by which childhood poverty is measured and assessed are inadequate, and argues that any efforts to address the problem of childhood poverty in the U.S. must take a broader view than is typically taken.

Lichter first addresses the shortcomings and inadequacies in the ways that poverty is defined, measured, and even understood. In the U.S., notes Lichter, assessments used to quantify poverty were first developed in the mid-20^th century, and were based almost entirely on the premise of an “economy food plan” as developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With this economy food plan serving as the minimum acceptable standard for food intake, it was established by the federal government that the poverty line would be marked at an income that equaled 3 times the amount needed to adhere to such an economy food plan. In 1994, during the time when Lichter was conducting his research, this poverty line for a family of four (presumably two adults and two children, though Lichter does not specify such) was just over $15,000 annually.

After setting forth the parameters by which poverty has largely been measured in the U.S. over the decades since the economy food plan model was established, Lichter begins to dissect the many ways in which such a narrow and limited means of assessing poverty fall short, with a particular emphasis on the myriad social and economic changes that took place in the latter part of the 20^th century. Of all the issues addressed in this section, perhaps the most significant one is the rate at which traditional nuclear families with two-parent households in the U.S. has declined, with an increasingly large number of unwed single mothers serving as sole heads of household and providers for children (Lichter, 1997). Concurrent with such changes in the social context of poverty, political and economic factors impinging on children and families have also evolved and changed over time. Lichter points to examples such as the various welfare and social safety-net programs such as food stamps and other forms of public assistance, noting that these and other forms of “near income” (Lichter, 1997) are typically left out of assessments of household income. With these and other factors in mind, Lichter asserts that understanding and assessing the true nature and extent of childhood poverty in contemporary U.S. society must involve a range of comparative assessments to place the issue of childhood poverty in context.

It is in his effort to make such comparisons that Lichter places his work in a global context. Lichter begins by making a wide range of comparisons related to childhood poverty within the U.S., noting that the shortcomings of how childhood poverty is assessed fail to account for factors such as geographical differences as well as the aforementioned issues related to changes in family structures and the advent of “near income” welfare policies. In the mid-20^th century the rates of childhood poverty as measured by typical standards began to decline, slowing and then leveling off in the 1960s and 1970s (Lichter, 1997). By the 1980s, however, childhood poverty in the U.S. began to rise, along with the growing income-inequality gap (Lichter, 1997). Even after adjusting for many of the factors which Lichter claims have been largely left out of assessments of childhood poverty, the problem was most assuredly growing as the end of the century approached (Lichter, 1997). In order to place the issue of U.S. childhood poverty in a global context, Lichter draws comparisons between the U.S. and the “social democracies” (Lichter, 1997) of countries such as Norway, Sweden, and other nations of Western Europe.

It is in drawing such comparisons that the issue of childhood poverty in the U.S. comes into focus. Many of the same social factors that influence childhood poverty in the U.S. –such as the decline of two-parent households and the associated rise in the number of unwed single mothers raising children- are also found in the social democracies of Western Europe. Despite similar social shifts, however, the rates of childhood poverty as measured across a spectrum of factors are notably lower in many nations in Western Europe than they are in the U.S. (Lichter, 1997). Lichter attributes these differences largely to the manner in which different nations have constructed (or failed to adequately construct) social safety nets. In the U.S., for example, there are a number of programs aimed specifically at providing nutritional assistance or economic support to single mothers (Lichter, 1997). By contrast, many of the social welfare programs in social democracies are aimed at all members of society; assistance to parents is available to everyone, ensuring at least some measure of minimum standards for all children in these societies (Lichter, 1997).

A 2007 report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) entitled “Child Poverty in Perspective: an Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries” addresses many of the same issues that Lichter tackled a decade earlier; like Lichter, the UNICEF report finds some notable differences between child poverty rates between and among various “rich” (i.e.- Western) nations. The UNICEF report attempts to go beyond simple economic assessments, instead placing the issue of childhood poverty in the larger context of “childhood well-being.” By taking such an approach, the UINCEF report seeks to not just quantify the issue of childhood poverty, but also to qualify the ramifications and implications that poverty has for those who live in it and for the larger societies in which it exists. In a sense, this report builds on the work of researchers such as Lichter by making an effort to understand the social, economic, and political factors that shape poverty, as well as illuminating the ways that poverty affects entire societies.

The UNICEF report is based on six different “dimensions of well-being;” these are material well-being, health and safety, educational well-being, family and peer relationships, behaviours and risks, and subjective well-being (UNICEF, 2007). The findings of this report indicate that children who live in poverty are likely to score lower on assessments of all six of these dimensions of well-being; such findings support the argument that childhood poverty underpins a range of other problems that affect children and adults at all levels of society. It may come as s surprise to some readers that the U.S. and Great Britain rank poorly on the overall assessment of childhood well-being in so-called “rich” countries; The U.S. ranks near the bottom in five of these six dimensions, with Norway and several other nations of Western Europe ranking at or near the top (UNICEF, 2007). The report also notes that income per capita is not a reliable indicator of childhood well-being; according to the report, “There is no obvious relationship between levels of child well-being and GDP per capita. The Czech Republic, for example, achieves a higher overall rank for child well-being than several much wealthier countries including France, Austria, the United States and the United Kingdom” (UNICEF, 2007). Such findings would seem to indicate that childhood poverty alone is not a predictor of negative outcomes; how individual societies deal with and respond to issues related to poverty have strong correlations to child well-being.

What is clear from reading such literature is that understanding the issue of childhood poverty and how it affects outcomes for children and adults involves the consideration of a wide range of factors. In the U.S., for example, childhood poverty is a leading indicator of negative outcomes related to education in childhood as well as in economic productivity and security in adulthood (Reardon, 2013). This tendency for children living in poverty to have fewer educational resources and opportunities, coupled with the demonstrated social and economic outcomes associated with such limited opportunities, serves to make poverty an intergenerational issue (Lichter, 1997). Simply put: if you are born into poverty in the U.S., you are likely to remain there and to have children who also live in poverty. Moreover, childhood poverty is the most significant determinant of overall child well-being in the U.S., while many of the nations of Western Europe and other regions rank higher despite contending with similar issues related to childhood poverty (UNICEF). While it is beyond the scope of this review to make policy recommendations, it is self-evident that differences in how societies deal with the problem of childhood poverty lead to differences in outcomes; with this in mind, the U.S. could likely do well by considering this global perspective when making determinations about how to ameliorate the issue of childhood poverty in the 21^st century.

References

Lichter, D. (1997). Poverty and inequality among children. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 121-145.

Reardon, S. (2013, April 28). No Rich Child Left Behind. New York Times [New York].

UNICEF (2007). Publications – Child Poverty in Perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries. Retrieved from http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/445