Discovering Child Poverty: The Creation of a Policy Agenda from 1800 to the Present
Platt, Lucinda (2005).
Bristol, UK: The Policy Press; 143 pages. $23.95. ISBN 1861345836.
Lucinda Platt’s Discovering Child Poverty traces the political, economic, and social developments of the past 200 years that have created the conditions for modern British anti-poverty policies and attitudes toward child welfare. Platt is a trained social worker and is currently a lecturer at the University of Essex in England. Her research interests center on ethnicity, poverty and child poverty, and the history of social policy. In this book, she focuses on linkages between research and policy, and compares poverty conditions and policies in the past with current debates. She chronicles how child poverty has become a focus of research and how childhood has been redefined over time. Her book is informative and provides a picture of the changes in British anti-poverty, education, and labor policies, while also highlighting some important developments in child poverty research.
Although elimination of child poverty is a major priority of public policy today, in the past children had few or no rights. Platt reports that in early 19th century Britain, children were not considered a distinct group deserving of protections and benefits to ensure their well-being. Poor children were not guaranteed an education, and they worked without any regulations governing their hours or labor conditions. If their families lacked adequate income to provide them with food and other necessities, they had to rely on help from the local church as there was no government income assistance to families living in poverty. The state could not adequately address the needs of poor children until childhood was recognized as ‘‘a separate space and...children as having specific needs …’’ (32). After new definitions of ‘‘childhood’’ and ‘‘poverty’’ were accepted, the state became responsible for the well-being of children. Poverty was viewed as unacceptable, especially for children, who were seen as vulnerable and dependent.
Changes in the political structure, the economy, and social values in the UK helped to redefine the problem of child poverty and caused the British government to institute reforms that limited children’s labor, guaranteed them education, and availed family incomes to support them. However, the institution of labor restrictions such as the Factory Act caused many children who were out of work to end up on the street. Consequently, campaigners promoted mass education as a step to keep children off the streets and in classrooms.
Platt observes that after a long struggle—especially due to resistance from the Church—education became universal in Britain. Large numbers of unoccupied children threatened the social fabric, and “churches began to acknowledge that they could not provide sufficient education to keep pace with their recognition of the need for it” (p. 49). Schools not only became locations for provision of education but “where other things were done…medical services were developed…[and] children could be weighed” (p. 52). Over time, the role of education became one of nation building: children were to be molded into good citizens.
Platt uncovers a relationship between empirical research about child poverty and the changes in the policies aimed to address it. Social surveys were used in developing the mandatory educational system and monitoring children’s health and welfare in schools. However, only when statistical facts were presented in a favorable political environment would changes in policy result. “Evidence only became treated as such if it could be made to fit with existing economic and ideological conditions” (p. 5).
Given this insight, it is perhaps ironic that Platt’s book did not include any record of what the “youthful gangs and vagrants” had to say about the changes occurring at the time. Despite the recognition that children have a distinct voice and opinions that do not necessarily match the ideological positions of adults, there is no indication that children were ever consulted.
This book may appeal to policy makers, practitioners, researchers and all those with an interest in child poverty. Most countries agree that eliminating child poverty is a central objective and have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, in many developing countries, impoverished children are still exposed to harmful conditions similar to those described in 19th century Britain. Even where child and labor protection laws exist, they are not always enforced, and many poor children have to work to help support their families. Moreover, many countries with limited resources cannot afford universal education for children, let alone welfare programs that provide for their parents. However, there have been serious attempts to provide free education for all children. In Kenya, for example, this has resulted in a million children who were previously locked out of the education system coming to school. With children away in school, women find time for other productive activities and to participate in the economy.
Platt helps readers understand both current British policies and the underlying moral structure of anti-poverty policy traditions. She describes the struggle in Britain to adequately provide for impoverished children without rewarding their parents, who were commonly considered “lazy.” Such attitudes also exist towards welfare recipients in the U.S. and some European socialist states. There is a push for personal responsibility in an attempt to force parents to change their habits and work, but without completely penalizing their children, who have no control over their family’s economic status.
Reviewer Information
University of Colorado, Denver
George is a Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado. His research interests include child and youth participation in planning, especially in low-income African countries.