Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK Assignment 2022

Running head: CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE UK
Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE UK1
Abstract
The United Kingdom is home to millions of children who reside in conditions of poverty
and destitution. Poverty in United Kingdom finds manifestation in a wide range of categories and
types, with poor children mostly those who belong to households that are unemployed or where
only one member of the family has a full time job. While the government of the UK has a
number of measures in place to deal with the matter of child poverty, the incidence of child
poverty appears to be increasing in the UK with every passing day. This assignment investigates
the relation between child poverty and social exclusion in the UK. Specifically the research
provides an understanding of how poverty impacts the quality of life of children and the ways by
which civil society, including social service organizations can get involved in order to better
address the matter at hand. The main research questions, aims and objectives are stated at the
outset of the study, followed by a review of literature on the subject, a discussion on the research
methods followed by a discussion of findings and the analysis of the findings. The research
concludes by stating that social service organizations can play a more proactive role in
improving the quality of life of children in poverty and social exclusion in the United Kingdom.

CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE UK2
Table of Contents
1. Chapter 1 - Introduction...........................................................................................................2
1.1. Research Aims and Objectives.........................................................................................3
1.2. Research Questions...........................................................................................................3
2. Chapter 2 - Review of Literature.................................................................................................4
2.1. Types and Categories of Child Poverty in the United Kingdom..........................................4
2.2. Measures Taken by the UK Government to Combat Child Poverty....................................6
2.3. Gaps in the Review of Literature..........................................................................................7
3. Chapter 3 – Research Methods.................................................................................................8
3.1. Research Philosophy.........................................................................................................8
3.2. Research Design................................................................................................................8
3.3. Data Collection and Data Analysis...................................................................................9
3.4. Ethical Considerations......................................................................................................9
3.5. Limitations......................................................................................................................10
3.6. Purpose of the Study.......................................................................................................10
4. Chapter 4 – Findings, Discussion and Analysis.....................................................................11
4.1. Findings...........................................................................................................................11
4.2. Discussion.......................................................................................................................15

CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE UK3
4.2.1. A Strong Relation Co-Exists between Poverty and Social Exclusion among Destitute
Children in the UK.....................................................................................................................15
4.2.2. Poverty and Social Exclusion have a Detrimental Impact on the Quality of Life of
Children16
4.2.3. Insufficient Attempts being made by the Government of UK to Eradicate Child
Poverty 17
5. Chapter 5 – Conclusion..........................................................................................................20
References......................................................................................................................................23

CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE UK4
1. Chapter 1 - Introduction
According to official figures, more than three and a half million children are living in
conditions of abject poverty in the United Kingdom, following the deduction of housing cost.
The case of the UK is one of the worst instances of child poverty as seen to exist in the
industrialized nations of the globe (Avlon and Gabos 2017). As many as 1.9 million children in
the United Kingdom live in households where the members are unemployed or without a stable
source of income. In fact, the United Kingdom has a higher percentage of children residing in,
what may be termed as workless or jobless households, compared to any other nation in the
European region (Bailey and Gannon 2017). As much as sixty three percent of children who
belong to households that fall in the low income category, however, have at least one parent or
family member who is employed in paid work. Child poverty in the United Kingdom has been
rising slowly and steadily, with the situation having worsened from what it was thirty years ago.
In the year of 1979, around fourteen percent of the children in the UK were residing in
conditions of poverty while this figure rose to as much as twenty one percent by the year of 2012
(Bailey and Gannon 2017). There is a concern that such a trend is likely to continue and that the
UK government is not going to be able to meet the commitments that it has laid out in a piece of
legislation known as Child Poverty Act, that aims at the eradication of child poverty by the year
of 2020. In fact, it is estimated that around eight hundred thousand children living in the UK are
likely to be coerced into conditions of poverty by the year of 2020. This implies that at least out
of every three children living in the UK shall be subjected to acute poverty (Barnes 2019).
The material as well as social deprivation accorded by conditions of poverty impairs the
ability of a person suffering from poverty in economic, social, cultural and political life and to

CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE UK5
engage in healthy and constructive relationships with others. Children who reside in poverty in
the UK are thus socially excluded or disconnected from their peers and from society in general
(Bramley and Bailey 2017). This assignment investigates the impact of poverty and social
exclusion on the quality of life of children in the UK. The assignment mentions the key aims,
objectives and questions to be answered through the study, a review of literature on the subject is
provided, the methods that have been used to conduct the study are explained in detail and the
findings of the study are discussed and analyzed. The study concludes with a number of
recommendations that can be taken into consideration by social service workers in the UK to
improve the lives of children living in conditions of poverty and who face social inclusion as a
consequence of the same.
1.1. Research Aims and Objectives
The man aims and objectives of this study are as follows –
 To determine the relation between child poverty and social exclusion in the UK
 To determine the impact of child poverty and social exclusion on the lives of the children
in the UK
 To find out the ways by which social services can improve the quality of life of children
living in abject poverty, destitution and social isolation in the UK
1.2. Research Questions
The key research questions that will be addressed through this study are as follows –
RQ 1 – What is the relation between child poverty and social exclusion in the UK?