CYP Now - Resources: Know How - Measuring child poverty

The Government says that it is committed to eliminating child poverty by 2020. But how do we define poverty and what methods can be used to measure accurately the numbers of children who are affected by it? PJ White explains. 1. The most widely accepted definition of poverty nowadays is to say that people who live in poverty don't have the means to play a full part in society. They are excluded from aspects of life that other citizens take for granted. If people cannot afford the food, the living conditions and the social life that most people generally expect as normal, then they are living in poverty.

2. This definition clearly refers to so-called "relative poverty". It proposes that a child is poor if their family lacks the money to enable them to play a full part in the society in which they live. It therefore follows that if the society changes, then so does the actual definition of poverty. However, some people find this perspective annoying, because they argue that as society's expectations change, the number of people in poverty can vary. They see this not as poverty but as inequality, and claim that it is not right to confuse the two.

3. Absolute poverty, a term used more in developing countries than the UK, describes those living without the basic essentials that are necessary for life. These are usually acknowledged as being shelter, food, clothing and drinking water. Social needs are ignored. The trouble with this is that human beings live in societies. A family would strike most people as poor if they could not afford a cup of tea, a birthday present for a child or to visit a friend. But there is no nutrition in tea and nothing essential to life about a birthday present or having friends. So they wouldn't register on a measure of absolute poverty.

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