identifying disadvantaged children: comparing alternative approaches melissa wong and peter saunders...
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Identifying Disadvantaged Children:
Comparing Alternative Approaches
Melissa Wong and Peter SaundersSocial Policy Research Centre
University of New South Wales
Presented to the 2nd International Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators
University of Western Sydney, 4-5 November 2009
Dimensions of Social Disadvantage
Poverty – people are living in poverty if their incomes are so
inadequate as to preclude them from having an acceptable standard of living (Irish Combat Poverty Agency)
Deprivation – people are deprived when they face an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities (Mack and Lansley, Poor Britain)
Social exclusion – ‘An individual is socially excluded if he or she does not [have the opportunity to] participate in key activities in the society in which he or she lives’ (Burchardt, Le Grand and Piachaud, Understanding Social Exclusion)
Consistent poverty – income below 60% of the median and also experiencing enforced deprivation (Irish Combat Poverty Agency)
The UNICEF Child Well-being Framework
Dimensions of well-being:
1. Material well-being (poverty, deprivation, work)
2. Health and safety (mortality and morbidity)
3. Educational well-being (literacy, numeracy and enrolments)
4. Family and peer relationships (sole parent and step families)
5. Behaviours and risks (smoking, violence and physical activity)
6. Subjective well-being (perceptions of belonging and loneliness)
The ARACY Report Card of Wellbeing for Australian Children and Youth
Dimensions of well-being:
1. Material well-being (poverty, deprivation and joblessness)
2. Health and safety (health, immunisation, accidents/injury)
3. Educational well-being (school achievement and work transition)
4. Relationships (social capital, family relationships, belonging)
5. Behaviours and risks (obesity, smoking, alcohol, drug use, crime)
6. Subjective well-being (self-reported health, personal wellbeing)
7. Participation (community participation, political interest)
8. Environment (climate change, resource use and biodiversity)
Comparing the Three Approaches
(Income) poverty focuses on what people do not have (in terms
of income)
Deprivation focuses on what people cannot afford (in terms of acquiring the essentials of life)
Social exclusion focuses on what people do not do (among customary or common activities)
→ Deprivation and exclusion focus more directly on the absence of items regarded as essential (“necessities”)
Identifying Deprivation and Exclusion
Is it essential for everyone?
Do you have it?
SOCIAL EXCLUSIONYes No Yes No
THE ESSENTIALS OF LIFE
Is it because you cannot afford it?
Yes No
DEPRIVATION
Community Understanding of Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey (CUPSE) 2006
(n=2,704)
Benchmark 61 essential items; 47 considered to be essential by 50% of sample
26 Deprivation items 27 Social exclusion items
Child-related items:
•Hobby/leisure activities for children •Children able to participate in school activities•Annual dental check-up for children•New school books/clothes•Separate bed per child•Separate bedroom per child >10 years
Economic Exclusion
-restricted access to economic resources and low economic capacity
Service exclusion
-lack of adequate access to key services
Disengagement
-lack of community participation
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
No child present
Child present
%
%
Essential items (without child-related items)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
No child present
Child present
%
%
Essential items (with 6 child-related items)
Bedroom per child >10 years
New school books/clothes
Annual dental check-upfor children
School activities
Hobby for children
Bed per child
Comparing Disadvantage by Family Types
3 family types: couples without children, couples with dependent
children and sole parent with dependent children
Age of dependent child <18 years and age of parent restricted to ≤50 years
3 indicators of disadvantage – poverty, deprivation and social exclusion
Subjective wellbeing indicators
Income Poverty Rates by Family Type
%
Deprivation of 25 essential itemsby Family Type
%
Deprivation of 6 child-related items by Family Type
%
Social Exclusion by Family Type
%
Disengagement Service exclusion Economic exclusion
%
Consistent Poverty (60% median disposable income & dep ≥ 2)
Subjective Wellbeing by Family Type
%
Conclusions
Examine nature of disadvantaged couple and sole parent families in Australia using poverty, deprivation and social exclusion indicators as well as subjective well-being indicators
Sole parent families are most disadvantaged in terms of all the indicators as well as subjective well-being
Couples with dependent children are worse off than couples with no children
Indicators are based on information provided by parents and not children themselves
There is a need for more research on children's experiences and attitudes [SPRC’s Making a Difference Project]
Dr Melissa Wong | Social Policy Research Centre | [email protected]
Professor Peter Saunders | Social Policy Research Centre | [email protected]