Child Poverty Essay

1159 Words5 Pages
It is easy to recall images of child poverty that have been well publicised around the world, society defines and associates them with the developing world, images of corrugated shacks and barren fields, ruined crops, children searching through rubbish dumps, drinking contaminated water and dying of preventable diseases. We would not consider this would be happening in the UK. Child poverty has become a significant issue in the UK. There are various factors related to the cause of child poverty. The highest affected are those in unemployment, on low incomes, lone parents, family structure, ethnicity and housing. The essay will try to explain the causes, who it affects and the impact it has on society as a whole. There are 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK today. That is 27% of children, on average one in four. Child poverty is projected to raise from 2012/13 with an expected 600,000 more children living in poverty by 2015/16. This is expected to rise to 4.7 million by 2020. Growing up in poverty is one of the biggest barriers children have to face. Poverty has a detrimental effect on physical and mental health, education, life chances, and it damages society. In 2013, a report estimated that child poverty costs the UK at least £29 billion each year. Of this £20.5 billion is a direct cost to government (D.Hirsch 2013). The causes can vary according to their factors. The causes of child poverty can be direct as well as indirect. Lack of resources is a direct cause of child poverty and a lack of parental employment, low paid suitable jobs, educational qualifications, high living costs, family structure, housing, ethnicity, play a very significant role in causes of high-level child poverty (www.cpag.org.uk). Unemployment is one of the key causes of child poverty; people have to rely on government benefits to meet their basic needs. In 2009/10, 42% of
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