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Children in poverty: Time for action to address rising inequalities in the United Kingdom

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  • Jatinder Hayre
  • Allyson M. Pollock

Abstract

Children have been disproportionately affected by the response to COVID‐19 despite having a negligible risk of morbidity and mortality. Moreover, the response to COVID‐19 has magnified the inequalities generated by the decade‐long austerity regime imposed by the coalition, and current government. The numbers of children living in poverty are rising: some 30% of children, amounting to over four million children, are living in relative poverty in the United Kingdom. Poverty will deepen due to rising levels of unemployment, and with 25% of private sector workers experiencing a reduction in hours, this will disproportionately affect families with young children. The stage is set for deepening and more entrenched inequalities, superimposed on the pre‐existing inequalities of austerity. A comprehensive and radical set of policies is needed to address this and will require full government commitment at the highest level. 尽管发病率和死亡率的风险可以忽略不计，但2019冠状病毒病（COVID‐19）的响应措施却对儿童造成了不成比例的影响。此外，COVID‐19的响应措施放大了联盟和现任政府实施的长达十年的紧缩制度所造成的不平等。贫困儿童人数正在上升:英国约有30%的儿童（即超过400万儿童）生活在相对贫困中。由于失业率上升以及25%的私营部门工人的工作时间减少，贫困将加剧，这将对有幼儿的家庭造成不成比例的影响。此举为恶化更加根深蒂固的不平等一事奠定了基础，产生的效果将叠加在先前的紧缩不平等之上。需要一套全面和激进的政策来应对此问题，并且需要政府尽全力作出充分承诺。 Los niños se han visto afectados de manera desproporcionada por la respuesta a la COVID‐19 a pesar de tener un riesgo insignificante de morbilidad y mortalidad. Además, la respuesta al COVID‐19 ha magnificado las desigualdades generadas por el régimen de austeridad de una década impuesto por la coalición y el Gobierno actual. El número de niños que viven en la pobreza está aumentando: alrededor del 30 % de los niños, que suman más de 4 millones de niños, viven en relativa pobreza en el Reino Unido. La pobreza se profundizará debido a los crecientes niveles de desempleo y con el 25% de los trabajadores del sector privado experimentando una reducción de horas, esto afectará de manera desproporcionada a las familias con niños pequeños. El escenario está preparado para desigualdades cada vez más profundas y arraigadas, superpuestas a las desigualdades preexistentes de la austeridad. Se necesita un conjunto integral y radical de políticas para abordar esto y requerirá el compromiso total del gobierno al más alto nivel.

Suggested Citation

  • Jatinder Hayre & Allyson M. Pollock, 2022. "Children in poverty: Time for action to address rising inequalities in the United Kingdom," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 423-436, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:povpop:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:423-436
    DOI: 10.1002/pop4.353
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas R V Jones & Annalijn I Conklin & Marc Suhrcke & Pablo Monsivais, 2014. "The Growing Price Gap between More and Less Healthy Foods: Analysis of a Novel Longitudinal UK Dataset," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-7, October.
    2. Vizard, Polly & Obolenskaya, Polina & Burchardt, Tania, 2019. "Child poverty amongst young carers in the UK: prevalence and trends in the wake of the financial crisis, economic downturn and onset of austerity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91546, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Polly Vizard & Polina Obolenskaya & Tania Burchardt, 2019. "Child Poverty Amongst Young Carers in the UK: Prevalence and Trends in the Wake of the Financial Crisis, Economic Downturn and Onset of Austerity," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(5), pages 1831-1854, October.
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    1. Syed Jaffar Abbas & Asim Iqbal, 2024. "Multidimensional Child Poverty and Spatial Interdependencies in Punjab, Pakistan," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(4), pages 1715-1740, August.

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