Poverty uncovered

What is the concept of poverty??and what is the government doing to tackle the problem?? Well my understanding of poverty would be when familes do not have the comfort and security from an income, daily struggles, debts, possibly leading to homelessness..........i am going to have a bit of a look around to see what i can find (missing xfactor whilst i do so!haha) so very worth it though, well here go's......

There are 3 types of  poverty and how it is measured:

* Absolute poverty  - Absolute minimum
* Relative poverty - Having less than others in society
* Subjective poverty - Feeling you do not have enough to get along

The effects of poverty are very influentual on children and by the looks of things can affect in so many different ways depending on unemployment( one or both parents) social class and their residential areas. The effects it can have would include: ill/poor health, finanancial worry can cause family tensions, depression, anxiety etc, poor nutrition, it can also have detrimental effect on social exclusion, parenting can become difficult with lack of resources,  also children are likely to do poorly in education as they tend to suffer more with ill health, truancy etc, low self esteem the list could go on....:0( The thing that gets me is that its like one big vicious circle as each disadvantage makes others more likely to happen and then the next generation are likely to grow up in poverty just like their parents.



This is a really useful website( the housing and homeless charity) it relates to child poverty and has some really interesting links on its site it opens a few doors, one in particular link which is full of research and information i found very eye opening is the 'listen up' report -  voices of homeless children:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/campaigns/housing_issues/supporting_families_and_children?gclid=CKDE2-jeoqwCFUtC4QodVg2A7A#2

More Information found on 'shelter website':

Government action

In 1999, the Government pledged to end child poverty in England by 2020, giving all children the solid start in life they deserve. In April 2004, a ban on the long-term use of bed and breakfast hotels for homeless families with children was introduced. In the same year, the Government published its Every Child Matters strategy with the aim that, whatever their circumstances, every child should have the support they need to:

• be healthy
• stay safe
• enjoy and achieve
• make a positive contribution
• achieve economic well-being.

Here is the link to the Governments commitent to end child poverty  by 2020:


http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/Documents/Taxation_Work_and_Welfare/Child_Poverty/tax_child_index.cfm


Another interesting article i found on the guardian website, it states that the government are failing to strategically regenerate the poorest communities and concentrate more on economic growth:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/03/deprived-communities-left-behind-mps


Bye for now :0) xx