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Escaping childhood poverty

As early as the 1960s, birth cohort study evidence was highlighting that disadvantage was being transferred from one generation to another. Evidence cited in the highly influential Plowden report in 1967 revealed that at age seven, 23 per cent of children who had fathers who did manual jobs were 'good readers' compared with 55 per cent of children whose fathers were in managerial or professional employment.

Clear evidence also exists of the increased likelihood of being poor in adulthood if an individual is from a poor, as opposed to non-poor background. Moreover, this situation appears to have worsened over time. Research on those born in 1958 finds those brought up in poverty are twice as likely to be poor adults as others are, but for those born in 1970 this is increased to four times higher for men and 3.6 times higher for women [2].

While poverty in childhood increases the risk of adult poverty, intergenerational cycles of poverty are not unbreakable or inevitable. Recently, birth cohort study evidence has highlighted some of the key influences which enable children to escape poverty. Findings analysing data from the UK Birth Cohort Studies reveal that both educational attainment [3], a positive parenting style [4] and parents' attitudes to and involvement in learning are particularly important in determining a child's later likelihood of escaping poverty. Such findings are informing strategies aimed not only at tackling the effects of poverty now, but preventing it occurring in the future.

References

  1. Plowden report, Children and their Primary Schools, HM Stationery Office, 1967
  2. Blanden J, Goodman P, Gregg P, and Machin S (2004) 'Changes in intergenerational mobility in Britain', in Corak M (ed) Generational Income Inequality, Cambridge University Press.
  3. Blanden J, Bucking the Trend: What enables those who are disadvantaged in childhood to succeed in later life? (2006) Department for Work and Pensions Working Paper No 31. HMSO.
  4. Schoon I and Parsons S, 'Competence in the face of adversity: the influence of early family environment and long term consequences' (2002) Children and Society, 16 (4), 260-72.