This essay is regarding the problematic facts about child poverty in Sweden. Since the beginning of the new millennium child poverty has increased, in Sweden. The last report which came out in the spring this year (2012) opened up for a lively political debate as well as big headlines in news papers and other media. The attention it got in Society became hard for the politicians to avoid. The Swedish section of Save the Children, demanded in their report concerning child poverty in Sweden that the Swedish Government need to do an inquiry about the increasing child poverty.    Today in Sweden, there are two big parties, and they have been the biggest for a long time now. The two are Socialdemokraterna and Moderata Samlingspartiet. The first mentioned one is representing a socialist policy whilst the second one is representing a right-wing party. This study will deal with whether the parties have changed over time or not. The big question will be whether they have changed their opinions and positions since the beginning of 1960. This year is chosen in particular because it was during this period the largest development of the welfare state of Sweden started. It will be about if the parties changed according to, in particular poverty in Sweden. There are two main questions that I intend to answer throughout the text, to finally analyze the questions in the last part of this essay.

The aim with this study is to understand how social workers at the individual- and family sector think about child poverty and how they work with and reason about the preventive and facilitate work they do for financial vulnerable families. We have in our study used qualitative method through semi-structured interviews with social workers at the individual- and family sector to answer our purpose. The results showed that child poverty is a concept hard to define and not well established. The social workers have divided views on child poverty but still at the same time mean that it exists amongst the families they meet. There is also a big difference between municipalities and their reasoning on what a reasonable standard of living is for a financial vulnerable family and how they work with preventing child poverty. The social workers shows different ways on how to work with prevention but there is lack of understanding if their work really benefits the child.

Salonen (2012a) skriver att Sverige är ett av världens rikaste länder där välståndet har ökat. I samma veva som välståndet har ökat har även klyftorna mellan rika och fattiga ökat och därmed har siffran gällande barnfattigdom stigit (Salonen 2012a). Syftet med studien är att undersöka och beskriva hur fem aktörer inom den ideella sektorn definierar begreppet barnfattigdom. Målet är att identifiera och förstå hur organisationer arbetar med att förbättra barnens livssituation. Våra tre forskningsfrågor är: Hur definierar aktörerna barnfattigdom i sin yrkesroll? Vilka problem kring barnfattigdom har aktörerna identifierat? Hur beskriver aktörerna sitt arbete mot barnfattigdom och på vilket sätt kan de förbättra sitt arbete? Vi har valt att använda oss av empowerment teorin för att våra informanter beskriver att deras arbete till mycket handlar om att stödja och stärka individer som lever i en utsatt situation. Genom detta arbete försöker man skapa en grund för barnens rätt att delta på samma villkor. Den andra teorin vi har valt är organisationsteori som beskriver att organisationer anpassar sig utifrån det omgivningen behöver och intresset av ömsesidiga och kulturella band mellan organisation och omgivning är centralt. Vi har utgått från en kvalitativ vetenskaplig metod där studien är uppbyggd på en empirisk studie grundad på intervjuer. Intervjuerna gjordes med tio informanter från organisationerna: Rädda Barnen, Majblomman, Svenska kyrkan, Frälsningsarmén och Stadsmissionen. Frågorna utgick ifrån vilken uppfattning de har kring barnfattigdom i Stockholm och hur deras arbete och problemidentifiering kring barfattigdom såg ut. Resultatet från vår studie visar att informanterna upplever att barnfattigdom finns i Stockholm, men dem definierar det på olika sätt. Alla våra informanter upplever många gånger samma problem kring barnfattigdom. De berättar att det finns olika problemområden och lyfter fram den problematik de själva har sett. Våra informanter berättar främst om det utanförskap som uppstår, vidare berättar de även om andra problemområden inom barnfattigdom. De lyfter fram att flera organisationer måste arbeta med påtryckningar och opinionsbildning för att påverka dagens politiker och göra allmänheten medvetna om barnfattigdomen i Sverige. / Salonen (2012a) writes that Sweden is one of the richest countries where the wealth has increased. In the same time while prosperity has increased, the gap between rich and poor people has increased and the figure of child poverty has risen. The study aims to explore and describe how five actors in the nonprofit sector define the definition of child poverty and to identify and understand how organizations are working to improve children's lives. Our three research questions are: How do the actors define child poverty as professionals? What problems around child poverty have the actors identified? How do they describe the work against child poverty and how can they work to improve their work against child poverty? We have chosen to use the theory of empowerment because our informants describe their work about supporting individuals living in a vulnerable situation and are working to enable children to participate on an equal basis by strengthening children. The second theory we have chosen is the organizational theory that describes that the organizations adapt, based on the needs and environment of mutual interest and cultural ties between organization and environment. We have used a qualitative research method in which the study has been based on an empirical study, based on interviews. Our interviews were conducted with ten informants from the organizations: Save the Children, Mayflower, Swedish Church, the Salvation Army and the City Mission. The questions were based on what perception they have about child poverty in Stockholm and how their work and problem identification around child poverty looked like. The result of our study shows that respondents perceive the fact that there exists child poverty in Stockholm, but the definitions vary. Many times all of our informants see the same problems around child poverty. They tell us that there are various problem areas and highlight the problems they have seen themselves. All of our informants tell us about the alienation that occurs, further they explain the other areas of concern about child poverty. They also told us that more organizations need to work with pressure and advocacy to influence today's politicians and make an awareness of child poverty in Sweden.

This study is about parents’ perception of child poverty in Sweden, how children get affected by family finances and how children can handle difficulties with being poor. The parents in this study express that there are times when the children do not have the same opportunities as their peers. According to the parents it is because of the families’ shortcomings in the economy, which can be seen through their leisure activities, clothes and holidays. Not being able to afford brand name clothes can give offense and be stigmatizing. Based on the parents' stories, we have interpreted the children's handling of situations through different strategies. The children mainly use adaptation and avoidance strategies to handle different situations.  Adaptation strategies are where the child adjusts and accepts the situation and avoidance trategies where the child avoids situations that are stigmatized. The children also use action strategies where they actively try to change their situation. / Studien handlar om föräldrars uppfattning om barnfattigdom i Sverige, hur barn påverkas på grund av familjens ekonomi och hur barn kan hantera svårigheter att vara fattig. Föräldrarna berättar att det finns tillfällen då barnen inte har samma möjligheter som sina kamrater. Enligt föräldrarna beror det på familjernas brister i ekonomin, vilket blir tydligt när det kommer till fritidsaktiviteter, kläder och helgdagar. Att inte ha råd med varumärkeskläder kan ge upphov till utanförskap och vara stigmatiserande. Baserat på föräldrarnas berättelser har vi tolkat barnens hantering av situationer genom olika strategier. Barnen använder främst anpassnings- och undvikandestrategier för att hantera olika situationer. Anpassningsstrategier är där barnet anpassar och accepterar situationen och undvikandestrategin är där barnet undviker situationer som stigmatiserar. Barnen använder också handlingsstrategier där de aktivt försöker förändra sin situation.

The child tax credit (CTC) is the largest anti-child poverty policy in the United States, but it gives more benefits to upper-income households than it does to lower-income households. Meanwhile, traditional cash benefit welfare programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) have shrunk over the past two decades. Why have American policymakers approached child poverty with indirect rather than direct spending solutions? This thesis argues that neoliberalism, defined as the reliance of policymakers on market means to achieve public goals, is to blame. Historical case comparisons between TANF and the CTC demonstrate that policymakers utilize neoliberal code words implicitly to divide target populations into deserving and undeserving groups. Additionally, an original survey experiment finds that political actors can increase public support for regressive economic agendas by incorporating indirect social spending into their legislation. Ultimately, neoliberal values challenge our conception of what constitutes good politics and good policy. It is clear that direct spending solutions to child poverty are present and available, but their attainability is falsely shrouded in clouds of skepticism from the neoliberal mindset.

Thesis (M. A. (Sociology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / In most developing countries including South Africa, the anti-poverty programmes aim to enhance and improve the living condition of the helpless people in the society (DSD, SASSA and UNICEF,2012). In addressing children poverty after the apartheid era, the Child Support Grant (CSG) was implemented in 1998 subsequently the State Maintenance Grant (SMG) was abolished after the review in 1997 by the Lund Committee (Grinspun, 2016 and Xaba, 2016). After twenty-two years of CSG existence, this study aimed to examine the successes of CSG in addressing child poverty and vulnerable households at Ha-Mulima. The study was guided by Structural functional theory as a theoretical framework and a qualitative research methodology was applied to examine the ways or mechanisms through which the Child Support Grant has been successful in attending to the problem of child and household poverty. An exploratory case study approach was used as a research design and the participants were selected through a purposive sampling procedure. In addition, data was collected from participants through semi-structured interviews and focus groups, while thematic content analysis was employed to analyse the findings. The findings of the study show that there are positive outcomes of CSG in relation to the utilisation of grant to eradicate child poverty and household poverty. The study found that the CSG has a positive impact in reducing child poverty since it reduces hunger, children access education and caregivers utilize the money to buy clothes for them. Regardless of caregiver’s dietary diversity in the households, the CSG has positive impacts on food insecurity and improved food consumption since families can use the money to buy food. The findings indicated that the CSG promotes self-reliance in communities whereby the caregivers create their own jobs and affiliate to various stokvels with the aim to empower themselves financially to avoid the dependability on the grant. The significance of the study lies in the way it has the potential of unravelling the dynamics of the Child Support Grant in rural communities. / HW SETA PHARMACY PRO

This thesis analyses the two-child limit policy in the United Kingdom which is codified in section 10 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, amended in section 14 of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, by utilising Carol Bacchi’s "What’s the Problem Represented to be?" (WPR) approach. The WPR approach draws on Foucauldian discourse theory and investigates the policy's implications by studying the problem presentations within it. The analysis identifies three core problems in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill’s impact assessment: the necessity to address the deficit by restructuring the welfare state, fairness towards working taxpayers versus benefit recipients, and the escalation of tax credit expenditure. It further uncovers five assumptions embedded within the policy, suggesting that UK citizens incorporate the policy into family planning, anticipate future social security needs, and make fertility decisions based on financial considerations, with the policy aimed at improving children's future prospects.Additionally, the study traces the ideological roots shaping welfare reform, highlighting the influence of Conservative Party ideologies from the Thatcher era and subsequent policies that reduced welfare support, contrasting with New Labour's interventionist approach and the media’s role in reinforcing negative welfare perceptions. The analysis uncovers several problem presentations in the policy and concludes that the government and media can craft narratives that shift the responsibility for child poverty from the state to parents, with enduring impacts on social discourse and policy direction, challenging future policy reversals.

The aim of the study is to investigate various aspects of child poverty related to the work at youth centers. The purpose of the study is also to investigate experiences of the area in which the youth center is located. In order to investigate the purpose and questions of the study, six individual interviews have been conducted with the staff at a youth center located in a suburb in Stockholm city. The empirical material has been analyzed based on theories of class and consumer society. The study answers three questions with the first one describing the staff’s view of the area in which the youth center is located, as well as what effects these descriptions may have on their clientele. The remaining issues deals with the social consequences of child poverty which the staff identify and work counteracting. The study's conclusions show that the relative child poverty can adversely affect the social life of youths. It can cause difficulties in the maintaining of social relationships with peers and create feelings such as shame, fear and exclusion. This is explained by the demands placed on individuals to achieve a desirable class and consumer level. The study also showsthat the area’s character has an impact on the clientele. Furthermore, the study concludes that the youth center is working actively against the social consequences via inclusion, health and care. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka olika aspekter av barnfattigdom kopplat till fritidsgårdars arbete. Syftet är även att undersöka upplevelser av det område som verksamheten ligger i. För att undersöka studiens syfte och frågeställningar har sex stycken enskilda intervjuer genomförts med personal på en fritidsgård belägen i en närförort till Stockholms stad. Empirin har sedan analyserats utifrån teorier om klass och konsumtionssamhället. Studien svarar på tre frågeställningar och den första beskriver personalens uppfattning av området som fritidsgården är belägen i, samt vad dessa kan ha för betydelse för deras klientel. Resterande frågeställningar behandlar de sociala konsekvenser av barnfattigdom som personalen på fritidsgården identifierar och arbetar mot. Studiens slutsatser visar på att den relativa barnfattigdomen kan påverka ungdomars sociala liv negativt. Det kan därmed medföra svårigheter att upprätthålla sociala relationer till jämnåriga samt känslor av skam, rädsla och utanförskap. Detta förklarat utifrån de krav som ställs på individer att uppnå en eftersträvad klass och konsumtionsnivå. Studien kommer även fram till att områdets karaktär påverkar vilka ungdomar som väljer att besöka fritidsgården. Till sist drar studien slutsatser om att fritidsgården aktivt arbetar mot de sociala konsekvenserna genom inkludering, hälsa och omsorg.

Uppsatsen utgår ifrån hur socialarbetares vittnesmål problematiserar det sociala arbetets struktur gällande ekonomisk utsatthet bland barnfamiljer. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer undersöker studien hur barnfamiljer med svag ekonomi upplever att vardagen påverkas av deras ekonomiska situation, vad de tvingas avstå ifrån samt vilket stöd de erfarit från myndigheter och civilsamhälle. Studiens teoretiska ansats utgörs av Baumans teori om konsumtionssamhället, Goffmans Stigma, Bourdieus kapital samt Beckers stämplingsteori.  Uppsatsens resultat påvisar hur familjernas upplevelser av ekonomisk utsatthet i Sverige 2018 skiljer sig ifrån varandra samtidigt som beröringspunkter kan uttydas; föräldrarnas krympta valmöjligheter att samt deras kamp för att ge sina barn möjligheter att delta i samhället på samma villkor som andra. Familjernas upplevelser av att tvingas avstå från saker som andra har av ekonomiska skäl förklarar den ekonomiska utsatthetens skiftningar och hur deprivationens omfattning varierar mellan studiens deltagare. Familjernas erfarenheter av stöd genom statliga myndigheter i samband med ekonomiska problem kan sammanfattas genom deras negativa erfarenheter av socialtjänstens bemötande. De flesta föredrar att vända sig till civilsamhällets ideella organisationer när de behöver stöd: ekonomiskt såväl som känslomässigt. Innebörden av familjernas upplevelser av att avvika från normen i konsumtionssamhället kan ifrågasätta tanken bakom en skälig levnadsnivå och statliga myndigheters förhållningssätt gentemot ekonomiskt utsatta barnfamiljer.

Questa tesi è composta di tre saggi collegati relativi a povertà, distribuzione del reddito e stato di nutrizione dei bambini in Uganda. Il primo saggio intitolato “Poverty reduction and Income Distribution Impacts of Exogenous Policy Shocks in Uganda: A Social Accounting Matrix Perspective” analizza come e quali settori ed agenti economici sarebbero maggiormente colpiti da shock esogeni di politica economica che abbiano l'obiettivo della crescita economica, distribuzione del reddito e della riduzione della povertà. La metodologia applicata in questo studio è un modello di equilibrio economico generale - il modello del moltiplicatore della Matrice di Contabilità Sociale (SAM)- basato sulla SAM Ugandese del 2002. Il secondo saggio intitolato “Measurement of Multidimensional Child Poverty in Uganda” utilizza indicatori antropometrici ed un indicatore composito della ricchezza famigliare come misure del benessere dei bambini e applica l'approccio del Dual Cutoff e Counting proposto da Alkire e Foster (2007, 2011) per costruire un indice multidimensionale della povertà infantile in Uganda. Il terzo saggio, intitolato “The Relationship Between Maternal Autonomy and Child Stunting in Uganda” utilizza utilizza misure di autonomia femminile quali la libertà di movimento per visitare la famiglia ed i parenti, il potere decisionale nel fare cospicue spese familiari e giornaliere e l'atteggiamento femminile verso l'abuso fisico e verbale per analizzare la relazione tra autonomia femminile e rachitismo infantile in Uganda. I dati per i saggi 2 e 3 provengono dall'Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) per l'anno 2006. I risultati dimostrano che il settore immobiliare, agricolo, commerciale e di trasformazione alimentare sono fondamentali in Uganda; 30% dei bambini sono multidimensionalmente poveri e una bassa autonomia materna è associata al rachitismo. / The thesis consists of three interrelated essays on poverty, income distribution and child nutritional status in Uganda. The first essay titled “Poverty reduction and Income Distribution Impacts of Exogenous Policy Shocks in Uganda: A Social Accounting Matrix Perspective” asks, how and which sectors and economic agents would be most affected by exogenous policy shocks that target growth, income distribution and poverty reduction? This is answered by a way of a general equilibrium model - the social accounting matrix (SAM)-based multiplier model based on the 2002 Uganda SAM. The second essay titled “Measurement of Multidimensional Child Poverty in Uganda” uses the anthropometric indicators and a household composite wealth indicator as measures of child well-being and applies the Dual Cutoff and Counting approach proposed by Alkire and Foster (2007, 2011) to construct a multidimensional child poverty index for Uganda. The third essay titled “The Relationship Between Maternal Autonomy and Child Stunting in Uganda” uses direct evidence on measures of women’s autonomy namely, freedom of movement to visit families or relatives, decisionmaking power on making large household and daily purchases, and women’s attitude toward verbal and physical abuse to examine the relationship between maternal autonomy and child stunting in Uganda. Data for essay 2 and 3 were drawn from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) for the year 2006. Results show that key sectors in Uganda are Real estate, Agriculture, Trade and Food processing industries; 30% of children are multidimensionally poor; and low maternal autonomy is associated with stunting.