Parents Poverty And The State

Naomi Eisenstadt and Carey Oppenheim explore the radical changes in public attitudes and public policy concerning parents and parenting. Drawing on research and their extensive experience of working at senior levels of government, the authors challenge expectations about what parenting policy on its own can deliver. They argue convincingly that a more joined-up approach is needed to improve outcomes for children: both reducing child poverty and improving parental capacity by providing better support systems. This is vital reading for policy makers at central and local government level as well as those campaigning for the rights of children.

Naomi Eisenstadt and Carey Oppenheim explore the radical changes in public attitudes and public policy concerning parents and parenting, arguing that a more joined-up approach is needed to improve outcomes for children: both reducing child poverty and improving parental capacity by providing better support systems.

This book provides an exploration of the social policies and practices of the Blair and Brown-led Labour governments in relation to families, children and young people in the United Kingdom. Although not a commentary solely on the policies of New Labour, the book examines Labour's 'Third Way', by widening out the debate to consider family welfare policies in the context of the European Union, globalization and international policy groups such as UNICEF. Within the UK, the Every Child Matters policy agenda provides a context for the areas considered. While there has been considerable improvement in the lives of many children and young people during this period, there have also been many headlines about abuse and failures of the care system. Moreover, the UK is still below the average in terms of child poverty within Europe, and the well-being of children and young people is of concern. The author has taken a rigorous look at policy developments during this period focusing on key areas such as: Health and well-being Child Poverty Risks, rights and responsibilities Young people being 'a risk' and 'at risk' Youth homelessness Looked after children Parents, Children, Young People and the State provides an accessible analysis of this key area for students, lecturers, researchers and policy makers with an interest in the well-being of children and young people now and in the future.

The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Western societies face many challenges. The growing inequality and the diminishing role of the welfare state and the rapid accumulation of the resources of a finite planet at the top 1% have made the world an inhospitable place to many families. Parents are left alone to deal with the big societal problems and reverse their impact on their children's educational achievement and life chances. The 'average' working family is sliding down the social ladder with a significant impact on children's learning and wellbeing. We now know that parental involvement with children's learning (although important in its own right) is not the primary mechanism through which poverty translates to underachievement and reduced social mobility. Far more relevant to children's learning and emotional wellbeing is their parents' income and educational qualifications. The mantra of 'what parents do matters' is hypocritical considering the strong influence that poverty has on parents and children. We can no longer argue that we live in a classless society, especially as it becomes clear that most governmental reforms are class based and affect poor families disproportionately. In this book, Dimitra Hartas explores parenting and its influence on children's learning and wellbeing while examining the impact of social class amidst policy initiatives to eradicate child poverty in 21st Century Britain.

Child poverty and the well-being of children is an important policy issue throughout the industrialised world. Some 47 million children in 'rich' countries live in families so poor that their health and well-being are at risk. The main themes addressed are: · the extent and trend of child poverty in industrialised nations; · outcomes for children - for example, the relationship between childhood experiences and children's health; · country studies and emerging issues; · child and family policies. All the contributions underline the urgent need for a comprehensive policy to reduce child poverty rates and to improve the well-being of children. Findings are clearly presented and key focus points identified for policy makers to consider.

The first interdisciplinary reference to cover the socioeconomic and political history, the movements, and the changing face of poverty in the United States. Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy follows the history of poverty in the United States with an emphasis on the 20th century, and examines the evolvement of public policy and the impact of critical movements in social welfare such as the New Deal, the War on Poverty, and, more recently, the "end of welfare as we know it." Encompassing the contributions of hundreds of experts, including historians, sociologists, and political scientists, this resource provides a much broader level of information than previous, highly selective works. With approximately 300 alphabetically-organized topics, it covers topics and issues ranging from affirmative action to the Bracero Program, the Great Depression, and living wage campaigns to domestic abuse and unemployment. Other entries describe and analyze the definitions and explanations of poverty, the relationship of the welfare state to poverty, and the political responses by the poor, middle-class professionals, and the policy elite.