Child poverty, as with poverty itself, is a complex notion to define precisely and there is no universal agreed definition. The European Union’s working definition of poverty is:
‘Persons, families and groups of persons whose resources (material, cultural and social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State to which they belong’.
The UK Government, following the consultation on "Measuring Child Poverty", set out three approaches to examining and measuring child poverty in the UK over time:
- absolute low income: this indicator measures whether the poorest families are seeing their income rise in real terms. The level is fixed as equal to the relative low-income threshold for the baseline year of 1998-99 expressed in today’s prices;
- relative low income: this measures whether the poorest families are keeping pace with the growth of incomes in the economy as a whole. This indicator measures the number of children living in households below 60 per cent of contemporary median equivalised household income. It compares the incomes of the less well off in a society to that of the ‘typical household’ so threshold changes as wealth of society changes (‘moving poverty line’); and
- material deprivation and low income combined: this indicator provides a wider measure of people’s living standards. This indicator measures the number of children living in households that are both materially deprived and have an income below 70 per cent of contemporary median equivalised household income. Material deprivation looks at living standards such as:
– A holiday away from home at least one week a year with family
– Swimming at least once a month
– Friends around for tea / snack once a fortnight
– Celebrations on special occasions e.g. birthdays
– Going on a school trip at least once a term
The UK Government monitors child poverty against all three measures with a target attached to the relative low-income measure, recognising that when family income falls below that of others in society, this has additional negative outcomes including inequality of opportunity and social exclusion.
(Please note that this video was produced in 2007)
“A Fair Future for Our Children" the strategy of the Welsh Assembly Government for tackling child poverty, classifies child poverty into three areas:
Income poverty
Low income denies children opportunities, and both children and adults agree that better sustainable job opportunities are the main route out of poverty.
Participation poverty
Children and young people in Wales should be able to exercise their right to participate fully in society and in all matters affecting them. Children from poor families often feel left out of activities others enjoy. This can be even more acute for disabled and ethnic minority children. The Welsh Assembly Government's plans are set out in the document: “Children and Young People: Rights to Action.”
Service poverty
All children and young people in Wales should enjoy equality of opportunity and access to appropriate services in an environment which respects diversity.
Other terms
Severe Child Poverty
Persistently Poor