Resource Library

Children and Poverty

Part 1-A Review of Contemporary Literature and Thought on Children and Poverty. Part 2- Voices of Children and Part 3 -Shaping a Response to Poverty

Publisher: Child Fund International

Year: 2003

Acc. No: 4239

Class No: 305.23 FEE

Category: Books & Reports

Subjects: Children

Type of Resource: Monograph

Languages: English

Ever since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children- and the condition of child poverty in particular- have been increasingly pushed to the forefront of development agendas. In 2002, the Christian Children’s Fund (CFC) launched an effort to better understand the effects of poverty on children. They commissioned a three-part study which included a review of contemporary literature and thought. Based on the study it was found that many of their operating assumptions were invalid and even the role that children play in an environment of poverty was found to be quite different from that of common understanding. In this publication, the absence of children’s voices in the literature on child poverty has been highlighted. Thereby, an exploration of children’s experience, the meaning of impoverishment for them, their perceptions and priorities when interacting with local communities and international agencies has been taken into account in this study. The study has perpetuated the overwhelming reluctance in the literature to acknowledge the resilience of children as social and economic actors in the struggle against poverty.