Methodological choices and opportunity cost in the measurement of child and family poverty Brían Merriman, Childrens Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin.

Methodological choices and opportunity cost in the measurement ofchild and family poverty

Brían Merriman, Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin

Conceptualising and Measuring Poverty: Methods for the 21st CenturyUCC, June 2012

What we can't learn because of who wasn't asked

Outline

• Child poverty vs. Family poverty• Impact of poverty• Measurement of poverty as:– Income– Deprivation• Material• Social

• Financial literacy• Poverty as disempowerment

Conceptualising and Measuring Poverty: Methods for the 21st Century, UCC, June 2012

Child poverty vs. Family poverty

• Assumed to be identical (Swords et al., 2011)• Depends on who is asked (Middleton et al.,

1997)– Usually parents, usually household income– Views of children under-represented (Swords et

al., 2011)


Impact of poverty

• Food, energy, housing security (March et al., 2011)

• Under-nutritionDevelopmental delayPoor physical health (Lucas et al., 2008; March et al., 2011)

• Poorer education, employment prospects (Grinspun, 2004)


Indirect impact

• Parent-child conflict• Marital conflict• Parental depression (Conger et al., 1994;

Mammen et al., 2009)

• Socio-cultural, political factors


Mediation of impact

• Parents often seek to protect their children by sacrificing their own physical well-being, mental health, and material needs (Bennett, 2005; Grødem, 2008)

• Over-compensation• Family, friends contribute to meeting

children’s needs• Young people’s own income (see Middleton et

al., 1997; Skevik, 2008)


Solutions

• Employment

• Income

• Based on the assumptions that:– Child poverty is the same as family poverty– Low income is the cause of poverty


Income support

• Addressing families’ needs through direct financial support was not shown to have any effect on outcomes related to physical health, mental health, oral health, psychomotor or cognitive development, or educational attainment (Lucas et al., 2008)

• Poverty is a systemic social problem which is amenable to structural changes at a national level rather than through local intervention (Ward & Scott, 2005)


Impact of employment

• Unemployment linked to anxiety, depression, reduced confidence, reduced self-esteem, and reduced happiness (Theodossiou, 1998)– Having a job was important, rather than having

just money• Children living in households with an

unemployed father or no employed parent had poorer emotional well-being in later life (Cusworth, 2009)


Childcare• Increases labour market participation of mothers

(Baker et al., 2009)• Greater advantages only for part-time employed

mothers (Buehler & O’Brien, 2011)• Some disadvantages for full-time employed

mothers (Baker et al., 2009; Kinnunen et al., 2006):

– Increased parental stress– Emotional and behavioural problems– Delayed development– Deterioration in parent-child relationships


Poverty as income

• At-risk-of-poverty (ARP) threshold is 60% of national median income– Poverty line in America is 36% of NMI (Bibus et al.,

2005)

• Proportion of families with children below poverty threshold, not children living in poverty (Kerrins & Greene, 2009)

• Relative poverty, not deprivation


What we can’t learn…

• What people are missing out on because of low income


Poverty as material deprivation

1. Two pairs of strong shoes 2. A warm, waterproof overcoat 3. New (not second-hand) clothes 4. A meal with meat, chicken, fish, or vegetarian equivalent

every second day 5. A roast joint or its equivalent once a week 6. Home heating at some stage in the year7. An adequately warm home 8. Presents for family or friends at least once a year 9. New furniture to replace any worn-out furniture10. To have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month 11. A morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fortnight for

entertainment


What we can’t learn…

• Differential impact on parents and children


Poverty for children

• Participatory research• Distinction between child poverty and family

poverty (Middleton et al., 1997; Swords et al., 2011)


All you need is… (Swords et al., 2011)

• Aims to identify child necessities and report on their deprivation of these necessities

• Socially-perceived necessities method• List of items– Whether a necessity– Possession or deprivation– Enforced or voluntary deprivation


Necessities

• Material: food, clothingActivity: days out, swimmingService: transport, banking

• Non-essential items: pony and trampoline

• Focus groups with children, parents• 49-item survey of children and parents– N = 262– Age range 9-11 years


Child-parent differences

• Own bedroom• Present to bring to friend’s birthday party• Clothes for special occasions• New, not second-hand clothes• Games console, computer games, internet, mobile

phone• Food and drink for friends when they call over to play • Family holiday• Schools trips• Shops close to home


Index of child deprivation1. Three balanced meals each day with fruit/vegetables and meat/fish (if they eat

meat or fish) 2. Enough of the right clothes for different seasons, for example, a coat to keep

warm and dry in winter 3. Separate bed and bedding of their own 4. Own books for reading for fun 5. Food and drinks for friends when they call over to play 6. Own money for school activities or days out 7. Family holiday once a year (can be in Ireland or a different country) 8. Day out with family at least twice a year (like going to the beach, fun fair, leisure

centres) 9. Go to a restaurant for a family meal at least twice a year 10. A bank, post office, or Credit Union account to save money 11. Shops close to home (like food shops, clothes shops, or chemists) 12. Access to the library


Index of child deprivation - Results

• Reasonable internal reliability• α = 0.671

• Socio-demographic gradientsConceptualising and Measuring Poverty: Methods for the 21st Century, UCC, June 2012

Child report%

Mother report %

No reported deprivation 69.5 69

One item 17.9 15.5

Two 5.7 2.1

Three or more 6.9 13.5

Child vs. family

• Weak correlation of r = .2


Growing Up in Ireland

• First national longitudinal study of children• Two cohorts

• Survey of children and parents or guardians• Children’s health and development, psychological

well-being, education, and activities; aspects of parents’ well-being; family income


Age at W1 N Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3

Child 9 years 8,568 2007 2011

Infant 9 months 11,100 2009 2011 2013

GUI income data

• Gross annual income• Equivalised income• Material deprivation• Social class• Employment status• Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS)


Family well-being among low income families

• GUI archived data• c. 1,600 families at risk of poverty

c. 250 families in consistent poverty• Family well-being:– Child well-being– Parent well-being– Parent-child relationships


ARP vs. CP (Merriman et al., 2012)

• ARP is bad; CP is worse– Lower self-esteem– Lower academic achievement– More permissive parenting– Higher parent-child conflict– Higher rates of maternal depression– Lower levels of marital satisfaction– Poorer self-reported maternal health


Measurement of poverty

• All of child deprivation, household deprivation, and household income are important

• Without any, methodologically weaker


Poverty as social exclusion

• Being unable to participate in society• Lack of resources• Individuals and communities• Low incomes, poor housing, high crime

environments and family problems (Office for Social Inclusion, 2012)


Financial literacy

• General knowledge and understanding about money and its uses (Allen & Miller, 2010; Daly & Leonard, 2002)

• Factor in low levels of employment and in poverty

• In turn, relies on basic literacy and numeracy


ReferencesBaker, M., Gruber, J., & Milligan, K. (2008). Universal child care, maternal labor supply, and family well-being. Journal of Political Economy, 116, 709-745.Bennett, F. (2005). Promoting the health and well-being of children: Evidence of need in the UK. In J. Scott & H. Ward (Eds.), Safeguarding and promoting the

well-being of children, families and communities (pp.25-43). London: Jessica Kingsley.Bibus, A.A., Link, R.J., & O’Neal, M. (2005). The impact of US welfare reform on children’s well-being: Minnesota focus. In J. Scott & H. Ward (Eds.),

Safeguarding and promoting the well-being of children, families and communities (pp.59-74). London: Jessica Kingsley.Buehler, C., & O’Brien, M. (2011). Mothers’ part-time employment: Associations with mother and family well-being. Journal of Family Psychology, 25, 895-

906.Conger, R.D., Ge, X., Elder, G.H., Lorenz, F.O., Simons, R,L. (1994). Economic stress, coercive family process, and developmental problems of adolescents.

Child Development, 65, 541-561.Cusworth, L. (2009). The impact of parental employment: Young people, well-being and educational achievement. Farnham: Ashgate.Daly, M., & Leonard, M. (2002). Against all odds: Family life on a low income in Ireland. Dublin: Combat Poverty Agency.Grødem, A.S. (2008). Household poverty and deprivation among children: how strong are the links? Childhood, 15, 107-125.Kinnunen, U., Feldt, T., Guerts, S., & Pulkkinen, L. (2006). Types of work-family interface: Well-being correlates of negative and positive spillover between

work and family. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 47, 149-162.Lucas P, McIntosh K, Petticrew M, Roberts HM, Shiell A. Financial benefits for child health and well-being in low income or socially disadvantaged families in

developed world countries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD006358. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006358.pub2.Mammen, S., Lass, D., & Seiling, S.B. (2009). Labor force supply decisions of rural low-income mothers. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 30, 67-79.March, E., Ettinger de Cuba, S., Cook, J.T., Bailey, K., Cutts, D.B., Meyers, A.F., & Frank, D.A. (2011). Behind closed doors: The hidden health impacts of being

behind on rent. Children’s Health Watch.Middleton, S., Ashworth, K., and Braithwaite, I. (1997). Small Fortunes: Spending on Children, Childhood Poverty and Parental Sacrifice. York: Joseph

Rowntree Foundation. Swords, L., Greene, S., Boyd, E., & Kerrins, L. (2011). All you need is …: Measuring children’s perceptions and experiences of deprivation. Dublin: Children’s

Research Centre.Theodossiou, I. (1998). The effects of low-pay and unemployment on psychological well-being: a logistic regression approach. Journal of Health Economics,

17, 85-104.Ward, H. & Scott, J. (2005). Safeguarding and promoting the well-being of children, families and communities. In J. Scott & H. Ward (Eds.), Safeguarding and

promoting the well-being of children, families and communities (pp.13-21). London: Jessica Kingsley.Williams, J., et al. (2009). Growing Up in Ireland – The lives of 9-year-olds. Dublin: Stationery Office.


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www.tcd.ie/childrensresearchcentre

Methodological choices and opportunity cost in the measurement of child and family poverty Brían Merriman, Childrens Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin.

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