Child Poverty

[Loz]

Proof that relative child poverty is a stupid measure...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18436795

[????]

I saw this too Loz - still waiting The Guardian's "Third of a million children pulled out of poverty by coalition" headline. Just demonstrates what a numpty concept measuring child poverty by a simple single number is.

[Marmora Man]

Poverty:

a. Can't afford to provide sufficient for for family

b. No roof over one's head

c. Can't afford to heat and furnish property (beds, chairs, tables, TV, ect)

d. No / limited access to education & health services

e. Can't afford to clothe family

f. Insufficient disposable income to provide some pleasures (an outing to cinema, birthday presents, trip to seaside, etc)

As Iain Duncan Smith has observed for the majority of the UK population these circumstances arise when the parent or parents are:

1. Unemployed

2. Drug dependent

3. Dysfunctional

4. Absent

5. Imprisoned

6. Abusive

Tackle these issues and more will be achieved in taking children out of poverty than any amount of welfare benefits.

Child poverty is a multi dimensional problem - simply measuring it as a % of the median household income is not only illogical but self defeating. There will ALWAYS be some proportion of the population that earn less than 60% of the median income.

[Huguenot]

I think IDS was dancing down the rather convenient political fence between absolute and relative poverty.

The median income calculation is one of 'relative poverty' which is defined as someone disadvantaged in comparison with their peers.

Your own and the IDS definition is scrambling around 'absolute' poverty defined by an inability to deliver basic human needs (although I'm not sure holidays count).

IDS is scoring points by deliberately fudging the distinction to his own advantage whilst playing to right-wing absolutism.

Having said that, I find it disagreeable that 'unemployed' is given parity with dysfunctional or drug dependent.

There's are 3 million unemployed in the UK, but only a tiny fraction this accounts for the other 'sins'.

I also think that bundling 'absent' into this is a scarcely veiled dig on behalf of traditional families and Victorian paternalism. Ugly.

[Brendan]

But the idea of relative poverty steps into the territory of social equality which is a concept fundamentally at odds with the conservative world view.

[Loz]

The problem with the term 'relative poverty' is that it is not an indicator of poverty at all, but of inequality. That's not to say that inequality is not worth measuring, just that it is a blatant lie to call it 'poverty'.

It is really just an attempt to ride in on the back of a more emotional word. And, as the figures showed, wrong - as in a time of recession, how on earth can 300k children suddenly be lifted out of poverty? Oh, because rich people are earning less. It is just bloody ridiculous.

[uncleglen]

As an ex-teacher it never ceased to amaze me that some parents were quite happy for their offspring to reach the age of 15 unable to read properly or do basic maths but at the same time they would buy themselves luxury cars, expensive holidays etc and boast about it at parents evenings. Why not spend some money on a private tutor?

[tutingay]

Having said that, I find it disagreeable that 'unemployed' is given parity with dysfunctional or drug dependent. http://www.keyforex.info/g.gif

[angelica fernandes]

Ten years ago, 189 countries agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) designed to create a more equal, better life for all. Among the aims was to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 and to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under 5. In fall 2010, the United Nations will hold a summit in New York to discuss the current situation. Only five years remain to reach the Millennium Goal targets, and there are reported fears that much has yet to be done. Progress is said to be "mixed," especially in regards to the status of global poverty. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called for the summit in September, said: "It will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the goals. Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs. Our challenge is to agree on an action agenda."