The Child Poverty

1.2 Poverty
This can result from low income, unemployment, parental separation, illness or disability, addictions, or criminal activities. Children may suffer malnutrition or a poor diet as a result of their parents being unable to afford quality food. This could result in lack of concentration or poor performance at school. They could also suffer other health related issues. They may be the subject of bullying as a result of their clothing or because they do not have the latest ‘must have’ accessories.

They will probably miss out on further education due to the costs involved, or as a result of the need to find employment to help support the family.

• Poor housing
One of the side effects of poverty is poor housing. People on low income are often dependent on local authority housing. This may result in overcrowding, for example being housed in a bedsit or home with insufficient bedrooms. This means the child has no privacy, or personal space. They may struggle with homework and course work because of the lack of a quiet space in which to complete it.

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The housing provided may be of a poor quality – suffering damp or be in disrepair. This could have a detrimental effect on the child’s health – causing asthma or frequent colds and coughs. It will probably be in a less desirable area or could be in an area with social disorder problems. This may result in the children becoming isolated, as their parents may be fearful of letting them out to play or they may themselves become involved in anti-social behaviour and criminal activities.

1.3 To protect children from significant harm and improve children’s social care (by, for example, tackling domestic violence, poverty and neglect, drug, alcohol and mental health problems in families). • To improve engagement in learning and achievement in educational skills (for example, improving schools attendance, behaviour, curriculum and ethos, improving language, literacy and numeracy, social literacy, employability skills of young people). • To reduce health inequalities (for example, reducing levels of infant mortality, childhood obesity, teenage conception, and improving emotional health).

1.4 Strategic direction from national and local policy is required to ensure every young child gets the early intervention that they need and enable change. 3.8 million children are currently living in poverty in the UK, one area in particular that is affected by this is education. By the time they start school, many poor children are already lagging behind, this can continue throughout their whole education.

The Child Poverty Action Group states:

• children from poorer backgrounds lag at all stages of education • by the age of three, poorer children are estimated to be, on average, nine months behind children from more wealthy backgrounds
• by the end of primary school, pupils receiving free school meals are estimated to be almost three terms behind their peers
• by 14, this gap grows to over five terms

• by 16, children receiving free school meals achieve 1.7 grades lower at GCSE

The top 20 parliamentary constituencies for child poverty in the UK are:

1. Manchester Central (47% of children in poverty)
2. Belfast West (43%)
3. Glasgow North East (43%)
4. Birmingham, Ladywood (42%)
5. Bethnal Green and Bow (42%)
6. Liverpool, Riverside (42%)
7. Poplar and Lime house (41%)
8. Middlesbrough (40%)
9. Blackley and Broughton (38%)
10. Newcastle upon Tyne Central (38%)
11. Leeds Central (38%)
12. Liverpool, Walton (37%)
13. Glasgow Central (37%)
14. Hackney South and Shoreditch (37%)
15. Manchester, Gorton (37%)
16. Birmingham, Hodge Hill (37%)
17. Islington South and Finsbury (37%)
18. Nottingham North (37%)
19. Edmonton (37%)
20. Birkenhead (36%)

Every Child a Talker (ECaT) is a national strategy designed to improve the skills and expertise of the Early Years workforce in early language, increase practitioners knowledge and understanding of early language development, create enriched language environments within settings and increase the involvement of parents in their children’s learning and help them to develop stronger home-learning environments. Good early language development is a key factor for a child’s future success. ECaT supports early intervention, improves practice and involves parents in the process of creating positive outcomes and life chances for children and young people.

Strategic direction is helping to tackle child poverty by providing free school meals, supporting families to get back in to work by helping with child care costs, providing free courses for parents and activities for children and young people. Children’s centres in poorer areas help reach out to vulnerable households, these families can access holistic, integrated services at the centres. Without this children living in poverty will only suffer more, early intervention is available to ensure children and families get any extra support they need and further their development.

Outcome 2
2.1 Poverty and Disadvantage may affect young people in different ways, if we take the modern world and how we now communicate - everything is technology based - mobile phones, computers, email, tablets etc. - poorer families may not have access to these kinds of resources. Also - communication development is also dependent on life experiences - if you live in a poorer area - where the libraries have been closed down, where you family can't afford to provide books, if the adults in your household have a lower standard of education then communication skills will be less developed.

Outcome 3
3.1 I feel disadvantage tends to means a situation & objectivity and vulnerability means potential harm. For example: Not owning a car can cause disadvantage & vulnerability. Disadvantage: reliance on family, friends and public transport for lengthier journeys or transporting larger items. An example that impacts on children is how it contributes and can make them vulnerable to exclusion: from groups that required travel rotas to be in place. there is a vulnerability towards guilt, where adults who are unable to provide the same levels of participation as others don't attempt to take part or regret making a commitment. Not accessing group activities puts everyone at a disadvantage; children experience fewer learning & development opportunities that would otherwise support future interests and career choices, and the adults involved experience less community programmes that have the potential to support a sense of well-being and belonging making individuals and groups less vulnerable to displacement issues. Owning a car has equal disadvantages and vulnerabilities.

3.2 Early intervention is essential to achieve the best possible outcome for the child. However multi-agency working is important too, when all the professionals involved with a child share information and co-operate with each other lives can be improved and even saved. Baby P is an example of multi-agencies not working together properly, early intervention and working together will help prevent more unnecessary deaths. Early years practitioners can provide information for local services which may be helpful to disadvantaged or vulnerable families, we can work together with social workers, health professionals and even DHSS by helping to complete forms for additional benefits the family may be entitled to. The best interest of the child is always the priority, policies and guidance must also be followed when a referral is being made to an outside agency. Working together for the benefit of the child. Early intervention is also at the heart of the Governments national strategy on child poverty.

They hope to provide support and de-stigmatize services, provide more health visitors for Sure Start Children’s Centre’s and are providing an Early Intervention Grant for local authorities to invest in addressing their local needs. The impact of all these measures for early intervention, will hopefully be a more stable society with less children in workless homes. Parents will be able to work and support their children, providing better homes, healthier food and a stable home life. Children will appreciate their education and strive to achieve their full potential. They will be safer, healthier and hopefully happier. They will have access to facilities to improve their health and well-being as well as their physical, social & emotional development.

3.3 Early intervention is crucial in supporting children and families who need extra support in all areas. This may focus on the child alone or the whole family, depending on the circumstances. Early intervention works through resolving problems before they lead to secondary problems. A child suffering from learning difficulties will need support and extra help, without this the child will feel frustrated which will result in behavioural problems, if ignored the cycle will continue and may lead to exclusion/ leaving school early. This will probably have negative effect on the child’s future and seeking employment, the adult may then turn to crime and the result will be prison. Therefore early intervention is crucial to ensure children have the best possible outcomes and life chances.

Outcome 4

4.1 Unit 071

4.2,4.3 and 4.4, If carers can be shown how important their participation is in the planning of services for individuals the easier it will be to engage a positive interest and hopefully support. Carers are the ones best placed to provide information on immediate needs, planning strategic services around them - medical, health, educational, benefits, support, assistance. Cares could be engaged through small participation groups or on a national level campaigns to support the important work they do as front line staff working with the children and young people. Mutil agencies services are child centred to meet the needs of the children and young people by encouraging communication between agencies from early years through to early adulthood, within Residential setting it is paramount that LAC Review are held regularly for professionals to come together to support and meets the needs of the child.

Outcome 5

5.1 – Unit 030 and Unit 070

5.2 Every child is unique and they grow and learn at different rates, having high expectation on what a child is realistically able to achieve will build confidence in the child, as long as the expectations are not at a level that is out of reach as this could affect the Childs confidence . children‘s strengths should be highlighted and praised whilst their weaknesses supported to develop and strengthen.

5.3 Practitioners who actually do the work of supporting children who are experiencing poverty and disadvantage are in the best position to be agents and facilitators of change, simply because they are in the trenches, doing the work every day. They see the real need, they are best equipped, given their up-close vantage point, to see the way to solutions. In short, they know what they are talking about. Politicians, bureaucrats, and teleprompter readers in the media don't know anything. They are just spouting platitudes and useless, meaningless talking points. Most of them don't even understand the problem. How could they possibly lead the way in fixing it? The people best equipped to come up with solutions are those who are out there dealing with these harsh realities and the suffering of these children on a day-to-day basis.