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