Upload
others
View
0
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Evolution of Research on Child poverty
Gerry Redmond International Symposium on Children and Communities in Australia
Crawford School, Australian National University,13-14 March 2014
The Evolution of research on poverty
1. Why ask children about poverty?
2. Three themes on poverty research in Australia….
– The social relations of poverty
– Absolute poverty
– The embodiment of poverty
3. The Australian Child Wellbeing Project
Why be concerned about poverty?
Basic needs – absolute poverty
Participation
Rights
Opportunities
Social cohesion / underclass
National competitiveness
Why be concerned about poverty?
F Scott Fitzgerald: ‘The rich are different from you and me.’
Ernest Hemingway: ‘Yes, they have more money.’*
* Thanks to Dr kylie valentine for these quotes - https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/research/publications/newsletter/december-2013/from-the-acting-director/
Why be concerned about poverty?
F Scott Fitzgerald: ‘The rich are different from you and me.’
Ernest Hemingway: ‘Yes, they have more money.’
Poverty: a status identifying the poor as ‘different’, or
do they just have less money?
Data
Making a Difference (ARC Linkage Project, 2008-2011)
100 economically disadvantaged young people
aged 12-17
urban: Victoria, NSA, South Australia
The Australian Child Wellbeing Project (ARC Linkage
Project, 2012-2015)
96 young people, 7 groups
aged 8-14
urban, regional, remote – NSW, ACT, SA, NT www.australianchildwellbeing.com.au
Most of the research discussed here
is taken from….
Skattebol, J., Saunders, P., Redmond, G., Cass, B. and
Bedford, M. (2012). Making a Difference: Building on Young
People's Experiences of Economic Adversity. Social Policy
Research Centre, The University of NSW https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/2012_6_Making_a_Difference_Building_on_Young_Peoples_Experiences_
of_Economic_Adversity.pdf
Skattebol, J, M Hamilton, G Skrzypiec, T Burnstock, G
Redmond, B Jenkins and K Dodd (2013) Understanding
children’s perspectives on wellbeing - The Australian Child
Wellbeing Project: Phase One Report. Flinders University
and the University of NSW http://www.australianchildwellbeing.com.au/sites/default/files/uploads/Final%20ACWP%20Phase%20One%20Report%20N
ov%202013_0.pdf
Poverty as a social relation
Poverty as a social relation
Interviewer: Do you mix with any young people who live
in more affluent suburbs?
Tessa: ‘No but if I did I know it would be my fault.’
Absolute poverty
I think that it’s pretty easy [for my family to meet school
costs] ‘cos I don’t pick very expensive subjects, plus I
don’t go on camps because I don’t like them, so that’s
saved my parents, like, $1,000. (Annabel)
Absolute poverty
My mum struggles, she gets paid on Thursdays but
struggles on the Wednesday. Me and my brother, if there
is no food for school, we don’t go to school at all. She has
never sent us to school with no food. (Billie)
Absolute poverty
You need food because if you don’t have any food you’ll
be very hungry and you start stealing and you’ll be like
shoplifting from shops to get food. And you’ll go really,
really, really skinny. (Kyle)
The embodiment of poverty
Well-worn shoes….
Ill-fitting clothes…
Wrong uniform…
The embodiment of poverty
Yes. My mum doesn’t really have money because of the
bills and stuff but my sister has a job and gets money so
when she gets clothes I get the other clothes but
occasionally I get a couple of pieces of clothing that are
on special, it is pretty hard but I get used to it. If people
had to live on what we have to live on they wouldn’t know
what hit them. (Tahlia)
The embodiment of poverty
‘[schools] don’t consider the weather involved in drying
clothes and some people can’t afford dryers to dry them’.
(Rose, who only had one school uniform)
The embodiment of poverty
If you’re wearing, like a trackie ... tracksuit something,
they’ll just go, ‘oh, look what she’s wearing’, or something.
But I don’t care. I don’t! But ... like girls at our old school ...
[this girl] just wore what she could afford, like from an op-
shop or something. And op-shops are good to get stuff,
and everybody used to pick on her. And all she was
wearing was trackie-daks and a top – who cares?
(Bobbie)
Conclusion:
What do young people’s voices add to
our knowledge of poverty?
how poverty matters to young people
Why poverty matters
How institutional arrangements can serve to exclude
young people who are materially disadvantaged
Using Children’s voices to develop
the ACWP Survey
Short survey (20 – 30 minutes)
online, self-complete
audio assist
interactive graphics
Cognitive testing – marginalised young
people
Pilot – 12 schools, March 2014
Full national survey – Aug-Sept 2014
usable samples of 5 ‘marginalised’ groups
Using Children’s voices to develop
the ACWP Survey
Main domains in questionnaire
Family
Friends
School
Health
Money and material goods
Learning
Bullying
Neighbourhood
Aspirations
Subjective wellbeing
Using Children’s voices to develop
the ACWP Survey
Family questions
who is the young person close to?
support
relations
worries
Material wellbeing questions
Joblessness in the family
Books in the home
Car, computer, holiday, own bedroom
Eating breakfast, going to bed hungry
The right clothes, mobile phone credit, petrol for the car
School camp
Analysis of the ACWP Survey
Profiles of wellbeing among five groups of young people
Material wellbeing, worries about family and engagement
at school
Material wellbeing and stress symptoms
Experience of bullying among five groups of young people
bullying in the context of friendships
Redmond, G, J Skattebol and P Saunders (2013) The Australian Child
Wellbeing Project: Overview, Flinders University and University of NSW,
June 2013. http://www.australianchildwellbeing.com.au/sites/default/files/uploads/The%20Australian%20child%20Wellbeing%20Project
%20Overview%2029%20June%202013.pdf
ACWP Overview
For more information, see:
Redmond, G, J Skattebol and P Saunders (2013) The
Australian Child Wellbeing Project: Overview, Flinders
University and University of NSW, June 2013. http://www.australianchildwellbeing.com.au/sites/default/files/uploads/The%20Australian%20child%20Wellbeing%20Project
%20Overview%2029%20June%202013.pdf