Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T06:51:50.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Children and Poverty

A Global Approach

from Part II - International Social Justice Issues That Have an Impact on Children and Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Aradhana Bela Sood
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Mark D. Weist
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
Get access

Summary

This chapter defines poverty, differentiates between absolute and relative poverty, and analyzes the criticisms of these concepts. Furthermore, the chapter analyzes the effects of poverty on child development according to developmental systems theory, listing direct, moderated, mediated, transactional, and community effects. Statistics on poverty for industrialized and developing countries are provided. Subsequently, the chapter discusses the experiences of children living in poverty worldwide and focuses on the associations between bullying and poverty in industrialized countries and their implications. Finally, policies and a set of broad principles are suggested to address poverty among children and youth.

Type
Chapter
Information
Social Justice for Children and Young People
International Perspectives
, pp. 71 - 90
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerman, B. P., Brown, E. D., & Izard, C. E. (2004). The relations between persistent poverty and contextual risk and children’s behavior in elementary school. Developmental Psychology, 40, 367377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ackerman, B. P., Izard, C. E., Kobak, R., Brown, E. D., & Smith, C. (2007). Relation between reading problems and internalizing behavior in school for preadolescent children from economically disadvantaged families. Child Development, 78(2), 581596.Google Scholar
Attree, P. (2006). The social costs of child poverty: A systematic review of the qualitative evidence. Children & Society, 20(1), 5466.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497.Google Scholar
Benyamini, Y. (2011). Why does self-rated health predict mortality? An update on current knowledge and a research agenda for psychologists. Psychology & Health, 26, 14071413.Google Scholar
Black, M., & Krishnakumar, A. (1998). Children in low-income, urban settings: Interventions to promote mental health and well-being. American Psychologist, 53, 635646.Google Scholar
Bosworth, K., & Judkins, M. (2014). Tapping into the power of school climate to prevent bullying: One application of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports. Theory into Practice, 53(4), 300307.Google Scholar
Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2002). Socioeconomic status and child development. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 371399.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, C. P., Sawyer, A. L., & O’Brennan, L. M. (2009). A social disorganization perspective on bullying-related attitudes and behaviors: The influence of school context. American Journal of Community Psychology, 43(3–4), 204220.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Carneiro, P., Crawford, C., & Goodman, A. (2007). The impact of early cognitive and non-cognitive skills on later outcomes. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/16164/1/16164.pdf.Google Scholar
Chaux, E., & Castellanos, M. (2015). Money and age in schools: Bullying and power imbalances. Aggressive Behavior, 41(3), 280293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coleman, J. (1990). The foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Conger, R. D., & Conger, K. J. (2002). Resilience in Midwestern families: Selected findings from the first decade of a prospective, longitudinal study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 361373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conger, R. D., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). An interactionist perspective on the socioeconomic context of human development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 175199. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085551.Google Scholar
Cook, C. R., Williams, K. R., Guerra, N. G., Kim, T. E., & Sadek, S. (2010). Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation. School Psychology Quarterly, 25, 6583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, J. T., Frank, D. A., Levenson, S. M., et al. (2006). Child food insecurity increases risks posed by household food insecurity to young children’s health. Journal of Nutrition, 136(4), 10731076.Google Scholar
Cunha, F., Heckman, J. J., Lochner, L., & Masterov, D. V. (2006). Interpreting the evidence on life cycle skill formation. In Hanushek, E & Welch, F (eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, Vol. 1 (pp. 697812). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227268.Google Scholar
Di Domenico, S. I., & Fournier, M. A. (2014). Socioeconomic status, income inequality, and health complaints: A basic psychological needs perspective. Social Indicators Research, 119(3), 16791697.Google Scholar
Due, P., Damsgaard, M. T., Lund, R., & Holstein, B. E. (2009a). Is bullying equally harmful for rich and poor children? A study of bullying and depression from age 15 to 27. European Journal of Public Health, 19(5), 464469.Google Scholar
Due, P., Lynch, J., Holstein, B. E., & Modvig, J. (2003). Socioeconomic health inequalities among a nationally representative sample of Danish adolescents: The role of different types of social relations. Journal of Epidemical Community Health, 57, 692698.Google Scholar
Due, P., Merlo, J., Harel-Fisch, Y., et al. (2009b). Socioeconomic inequality in exposure to bullying during adolescence: A comparative, cross-sectional, multilevel study in 35 countries. American Journal of Public Health, 99(5), 907914.Google Scholar
Engle, P. L., & Black, M. M. (2008). The effect of poverty on child development and educational outcomes. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 1136, 234256. doi:10.1196/annals.1425.023.Google Scholar
Entwisle, D., Alexander, K., & Olson, L. (2005). First grade and educational attainment by age 22: A new story. American Journal of Sociology, 110, 14581502.Google Scholar
Fernqvist, S. (2013). En erfarenhet rikare?: En kvalitativ studie av barns strategier och barnfattigdomens villkor i välfärdsstaten (Doctoral dissertation). Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A571574&dswid=238.Google Scholar
Fink, E., Patalay, P., Sharpe, H., & Wolpert, M. (2018). Child- and school-level predictors of children’s bullying behavior: A multilevel analysis in 648 primary schools. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110, 1726.Google Scholar
Frisén, A., Holmqvist, K., & Oscarsson, D. (2008). 13‐year‐olds’ perception of bullying: Definitions, reasons for victimisation and experience of adults’ response. Educational Studies, 34(2), 105117.Google Scholar
González, M. G., Swanson, D. P., Lynch, M., & Williams, G. C. (2016). Testing satisfaction of basic psychological needs as a mediator of the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical and mental health. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(6), 972982.Google Scholar
Hart, S. L. (2007). Capitalism at the crossroads: Aligning business, earth, and humanity. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hjalmarsson, S. (2018). Poor kids? Economic resources and adverse peer relations in a nationally representative sample of Swedish adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(1), 88104.Google Scholar
Hjalmarsson, S., & Mood, C. (2015). Do poorer youth have fewer friends? The role of household and child economic resources in adolescent school-class friendships. Children and Youth Services Review, 57, 201211.Google Scholar
Hjern, A., Rajmil, L., Bergström, M., et al. (2013). Migrant density and well-being: A national school survey of 15-year-olds in Sweden. European Journal of Public Health, 23(5), 823828.Google Scholar
Idler, E. L., & Benyamini, Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 2137.Google Scholar
Jackson, B., Richman, L., LaBelle, O., Lempereur, M., & Twenge, J. (2015). Experimental evidence that low social status is most toxic to well-being when internalized. Self and Identity, 14(2), 157172.Google Scholar
Judge, S. (2005). Resilient and vulnerable at-risk children: Protective factors affecting early school competence. Journal of Children and Poverty, 11(2), 149168.Google Scholar
Juvonen, J., & Graham, S. (2014). Bullying in schools: The power of bullies and the plight of victims. Annual Review of Psychology, 65, 159185.Google Scholar
Kudamatsu, M. (2012). Has democratization reduced infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from micro data. Journal of the European Economic Association, 10, 12941317.Google Scholar
Lemstra, M. E., Nielsen, G., Rogers, M. R., Thompson, A. T., & Moraros, J. S. (2012). Risk indicators and outcomes associated with bullying in youth aged 9–15 years. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 103(1), 913.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 309337.Google Scholar
Ma, X. (2002). Bullying in middle school: Individual and school characteristics of victims and offenders. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 13, 6389.Google Scholar
Masten, A. S. (2011). Resilience in children threatened by extreme adversity: Frameworks for research, practice, and translational synergy. Development and Psychopathology, 23(2), 493506.Google Scholar
McLoyd, V. C. (1997). The impact of poverty and low socioeconomic status on the socioemotional functioning of African-American children and adolescents: Mediating effects. In Taylor, R. D. & Wang, M (eds.), Social and emotional adjustment and family relations in ethnic minority families (pp. 734). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Melchior, M., Chastang, J. F., Walburg, V., Arseneault, L., Galéra, C., & Fombonne, E. (2010). Family income and youths’ symptoms of depression and anxiety: A longitudinal study of the French GAZEL youth cohort. Depression and Anxiety, 27(12), 10951103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, K. A., & Glei, D. (1995). Taking the plunge an examination of positive youth development. Journal of Adolescent Research, 10, 1540.Google Scholar
Murnane, R. J. (2007). Improving the education of children living in poverty. Future of Children, 17, 795810.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nordhagen, R., Nielsen, A., Stigum, H., & Köhler, L. (2005). Parental reported bullying among Nordic children: A population‐based study. Child: Care, Health and Development, 31(6), 693701.Google Scholar
Olsson, E. (2007). The economic side of social relations: Household poverty, adolescents’ own resources and peer relations. European Sociological Review, 23(4), 471485.Google Scholar
Parker, S., Greer, S., & Zuckerman, B. (1988). Double jeopardy: The impact of poverty on early child development. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 35(6), 12271240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patterson, C. J., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Vaden, N. A. (1990). Income level, gender, ethnicity, and household composition as predictors of children’s school‐based competence. Child Development, 61(2), 485494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patterson, C. J., Vaden, N. A., Griesler, P. C., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (1991). Income level, gender, ethnicity, and household composition as predictors of children’s peer companionship outside of school. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 12(4), 447465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plenty, S., & Jonsson, J. O. (2017). Social exclusion among peers: The role of immigrant status and classroom immigrant density. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(6), 12751288.Google Scholar
Plenty, S., & Mood, C. (2016). Money, peers and parents: Social and economic aspects of inequality in youth wellbeing. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(7), 12941308.Google Scholar
Poverty (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Retrieved from: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poverty.Google Scholar
Reardon, S. F. (2011). The widening academic achievement gap between the rich and the poor: New evidence and possible explanations. In Munane, R & Duncan, G (eds.), Whither opportunity? Rising inequality and the uncertain life chances of low income children (91116). New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press.Google Scholar
Reijntjes, A., Kamphuis, J. H., Prinzie, P., & Telch, M. J. (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34(4), 244252.Google Scholar
Reiss, F. (2013). Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 90, 2431.Google Scholar
Ridge, T. (2011). The everyday costs of poverty in childhood: A review of qualitative research exploring the lives and experiences of low‐income children in the UK. Children & Society, 25(1), 7384.Google Scholar
Ronald, L. S., & Rand, D. R. (2018). Life-course contingencies in the development of adolescent antisocial behavior: A matching law approach. In Thornberry, T (ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency (pp. 55100). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M. (1995). Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. Journal of Personality, 63(3), 397427.Google Scholar
Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the peer group: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 112120.Google Scholar
Sletten, M. A. (2010). Social costs of poverty: Leisure time socializing and the subjective experience of social isolation among 13–16-year-old Norwegians. Journal of Youth Studies, 13(3), 291315.Google Scholar
Stampini, M., & Tornarolli, L. (2012). The growth of conditional cash transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean: Did they go too far? (No. 49). IZA Policy Paper.Google Scholar
Tarullo, A. R., Obradovic, J., & Gunnar, M. R. (2009). Self-control and the developing brain. Washington, DC: Zero to Three.Google Scholar
Tippett, N., & Wolke, D. (2014). Socioeconomic status and bullying: A meta-analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 104(6), e48e59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tremblay, R. E., Hartup, W. W., & Archer, J. (eds.). (2005). Developmental origins of aggression. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Thornberg, R. (2011). “She’s weird!” The social construction of bullying in school: A review of qualitative research. Children & Society, 25(4), 258267.Google Scholar
Thornberg, R., & Knutsen, S. (2011). Teenagers’ explanations of bullying. Child & Youth Care Forum, 40(3), 177192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Townsend, P. (1979). Poverty in the United Kingdom: A survey of household resources and standards of living. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2017, November 26). Poverty. Retrieved from: www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/glossary/poverty/.Google Scholar
UNESCO Institute for Statistics and United Nation Children’s Fund (2015). Fixing the broken promise of education for all: Findings from the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children. Montreal: UNESCO-UIS.Google Scholar
United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) (2016). The state of the world’s children 2016: A fair chance for every child (Research Report No. 37). Retrieved from: www.unicef.org/publications/index_91711.html.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H., Soenens, B., & Lens, W. (2010). Capturing autonomy, competence, and relatedness at work: Construction and initial validation of the Work‐Related Basic Need Satisfaction Scale. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(4), 9811002.Google Scholar
Vartanian, T. P. (1999). Adolescent neighborhood effects on labor market and economic outcomes. Social Service Review, 73, 142167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitney, I., & Smith, P. K. (1993). A survey of the nature and extent of bullying in junior/middle and secondary schools. Educational Research, 35(1), 325.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, I. G. (2016), Why some children come to school with “baggage”: The effects of trauma due to poverty, attachment disruption and disconnection on social skills and relationships. Canadian Journal of Family and Youth, 8(1), 173203.Google Scholar
Woolcock, M. (2014). Engaging with fragile and conflict-affected states. Helsinki: World Institute for Development and Economic Research.Google Scholar
World Bank. (2011). World Development Report 2011: Conflict, security, and development. World Bank. © World Bank. Retrieved from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/4389 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.Google Scholar
Youngblade, L. M., Theokas, C., Schulenberg, J., Curry, L., Huang, I. C., & Novak, M. (2007). Risk and promotive factors in families, schools, and communities: A contextual model of positive youth development in adolescence. Pediatrics, 119, S47S53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×