Dr Emma Gorman, a Principal Research Fellow in the School of Organisations, Economy and Society, has written an article for The Conversation delving into the latest report from charity Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) on destitution in the UK and how it affects children across the country.
In the article, Dr Gorman offers a snapshot of the new report, revealing that according to the statistics, there are millions of people in the UK who are not able to meet basic physical needs such as staying warm, dry, clean and fed. The analysis estimates that during 2022 3.8 million UK citizens experienced destitution, a 62% increase since 2019 and a 148% jump from 2017.
The article turns its focus to the report’s data on children, revealing that the number of children living in destitution increased by 88% since the charity’s 2019 study and 186% since 2017.
Dr Gorman highlights that living with destitution from a young age can have a significant impact on the development of a child.
She said: “Destitution causes immediate suffering. But for these children, this experience of hardship at a young age will have consequences that last throughout their lives. There is little doubt that both money and environment (housing quality, parental mental health and nutrition, for example) contribute to inequalities in child development. Both of these factors are affected by living in destitution.
"When children reach the age of three, stark differences are already evident between those who live in poverty and those who do not. Children from more well-off families have better developed skills in both cognitive tasks, such as understanding basic concepts like colours, letters, numbers and shapes, as well as socio-emotional skills, such as self-control and resilience.”
Despite the concerning statistics, Dr Gorman suggests ways to make a positive impact, from changing government policy to reforming the benefits system to ensure families have enough money.
Dr Gorman added: “Research has shown that many early interventions – such as high quality childcare and education programmes for at-risk children – can have long-lasting positive effects. From an economic perspective, acting early to lift children out of poverty and improve their home and learning environments can be a cost-effective way of helping in the long run, both for individuals as well as wider society.”
Read the full article on The Conversation website.
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