Policy Press

Child Poverty

Aspiring to Survive

By Morag C. Treanor

Published

Feb 26, 2020

Page count

254 pages

ISBN

978-1447334682

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 26, 2020

Page count

254 pages

ISBN

978-1447334668

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 26, 2020

Page count

254 pages

ISBN

978-1447334699

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 26, 2020

Page count

254 pages

ISBN

978-1447334699

Dimensions

Imprint

Policy Press
Child Poverty

Child poverty is rising across affluent Western societies; how it is measured is vital to how governments act to prevent, alleviate or eliminate it. While the roots of childhood poverty are fiercely debated and contested, they are all too often misrepresented in policy and media discourses.

Seeking to redress this problem, Treanor places children’s experiences, needs and concerns at the centre of this critical examination of the contemporary policies and political discourses surrounding poverty in childhood. She examines a broad range of structural, institutional and ideological factors common across developed nations, and their impacts, to interrogate how poverty in childhood is conceptualised and operationalised in policy and to forge a radical pathway for an alternative future.

"What is distinctive about this book is partly that it is dedicated exclusively to child poverty - but also, that it goes about its business in a fresh, punchy and consistently arresting way. Potently combining quantitative and qualitative data, and taking care at every step to keep the analysis close to the views of those currently living in poverty, it gives an overview of how child poverty manifests itself, and the ways in which it matters, which conveys the multi-dimensional nature of both of these things." Ethics and Social Welfare

“Beautifully written, highly scholarly and well organised. A devastating critique of oppressive government, this book will be used as a source by students from a range of disciplines.” Jonathan Bradshaw, University of York

"Child poverty is a national disgrace in the UK. Read this wide-ranging book to understand the facts and to get a new handle on how to address these pressing problems."

Jane Millar, University of Bath

Morag C. Treanor is Professor of Child and Family Inequalities at the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

Introduction

Context

Family

Lone parenthood

Education

In and out of work

Health

Ethnicity and disability

Adversity and poverty

Conclusions