AS Sociology Summer Induction Task
Child Poverty in the UK
TASK: Use the materials below and your own research to complete the following essay question:
Examine the reasons for and the effects of child poverty in the UK.
(24 marks)
TIPS:
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Your essay should be one - two A4 pages long (not more than 1000 words).
Write an introduction and a conclusion to your essay.
Answer both parts of the question.
Include a range of reasons/factors and try to back up your statements with evidence.
CHIDLREN AND POVERTY
The most vulnerable social group experiencing high levels of poverty in the UK today are children.
In a wide-ranging social survey conducted for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1999, the
number of children living in poverty was estimated at one-third of all children living in the UK –
over 4.3 million in total. Although this figure has decreased, in 2004 it was estimated to be 28%,
which is still a large proportion. In 2005/6, there were 3.8 million children living in poverty. There
are currently 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. That’s almost a third of all children.
1.6 million of these children live in severe poverty .
Approximately 75% of all children living in households where the parent or parents are
unemployed live in poverty. However, because there are high levels of employment, it is still true
to say that over half of all children in poverty are living in households with at least one parent
working, and just under half are living in households with no employed parent.
Evidence suggests that the effects on children of living in poverty are widespread and can be
cumulative, especially in relation to educational performance. The National Child Development
Study found that those with disadvantaged backgrounds were likely to earn less than those from
non-disadvantaged backgrounds, and were also more likely to experience unemployment in
adulthood. Men were more likely to have been involved with crime and have spent time in prison
by the age of 23, and women were more likely to become single parents. The study also stated
that family poverty is one of the most important factors in poor childhood development: coming
from a single-parent family was found to be much less of a disadvantage if that family was not
poor.
AS Sociology Summer Induction task AGL
AS Sociology Summer Induction task AGL
AS Sociology Summer Induction task AGL
RECENT DOCUMENTARIES ON CHILD POVERTY IN BRITAIN:
Breadline Kids - C4 Dispatches
Over 300,000 children were given food aid in the UK in 2013. While politicians continue to argue about why so
many kids are experiencing food poverty, Channel 4 Dispatches asked three children to reveal how it feels
when the cupboards are sometimes bare.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od#3712963
Poor Kids - BBC 1
Documentary telling the stories of some of the 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. It is one of the
worst child poverty rates in the industrialised world, and successive governments continue to struggle to bring
it into line.
Watch in 4 parts on youtube from part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BN7ml6b-e4&safe=active
Benefits Street - C4
This documentary series reveals the reality of life on benefits, as the residents of one of Britain's most
benefit-dependent streets invite cameras into their tight-knit community.
Episodes 1 – 3 reveal the most about child poverty.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/benefits-street/4od
(or try sourcing the episodes from youtube)
ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR INFORMATION ON CHILD POVERTY IN THE UK:
www.barnardos.org.uk/ChildPoverty
http://www.jrf.org.uk/work/workarea/child-poverty
http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/
http://www.poverty.org.uk/index.htm
AS Sociology Summer Induction task AGL