1. Assessing Needs & Risks 2: The
Pervasiveness of Poverty
Nathan Loynes

2. Today’s pack will
furnish you with
many detailed
statistics on child
poverty and related
issues

3. In this presentation, I shall argue that Poverty & Social Exclusion, for many families
permeate throughout the child and family’s ecological system in modern Britain
Poverty & Social
Exclusion
Poverty & Social
Exclusion
Poverty & Social
Exclusion
Poverty & Social
Exclusion
Based on Bronfenbrenner, U. 1979. The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

4. We can see how poverty & social exclusion
relate directly to the ‘family & environmental’
concepts at the base of the triangle

5. Environmental Factors & Poverty
• There are different definitions and ways of
calculation poverty.
• Relative poverty and absolute poverty.
• It is estimated 3.5 million children live in
poverty.
• Some estimates place this figure nearer to 4.5
million. (There are about 11 million children in
the UK).

6. Beckett, (2007:169)
“A cynic might go as far to argue that the real
function of the child protection system is not so
much to solve the problem of child abuse, as to
provide someone to take the blame for it and to
deflect attention from the role played by
structural and economic injustices”.
(Excerpt 7 in today’s pack).

7. Beckett (2007:170)
• Poverty is a risk factor.
• Gibbons et al 1995: 57% of children registered
on Child Protection registers for physical
abuse came from families with no wage
earner.
• Although poverty increases likelihood of
abuse; poverty does not cause abuse.
• Perhaps abuse causes poverty…?

8. Poverty as a stressor
“Good parenting requires certain
permitting circumstances. There must
be the necessary lifeopportunities and
facilities. When these are lacking even
the best parents may find it difficult to
use their skills”. (Rutter, 1974 cited in
Beckett, 2007:175).

9. Conclusions
• Poverty does not ‘cause’ child neglect and abuse.
• However, research indicates that poverty and
abuse are often related.
• This is not surprising if we consider the research
indicating that many families struggle to meet
daily basic needs (food; warmth; shelter).
• Also, the effects of living with the daily ‘grind’ of
poverty can impact upon parent’s ability to make
reasonable decisions regarding the care of their
children.