Children Affected by Poverty and Social Exclusion

Around the world, poverty and social exclusion are driving factors behind the placement of children into alternative care. Families give up their children because they are too poor to care for them, or they feel that it is the best way to help them to access basic services such as education and health care. Discrimination and cultural taboos mean that girls, children with disabilities, ethnic minorities, children with HIV/AIDS and children born out of wedlock, make up a disproportionate number of children abandoned into alternative care.

Poor-quality alternative care leads to a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. With limited family-based alternative care options in many countries, children often end up in institutional care. Already marginalized by poverty or stigmatization, they risk becoming further excluded from society, as they grow up separated from their families and communities. In the worst cases, inadequate or unsafe care standards expose them to neglect, violence and abuse. When they eventually leave institutional care, young adults may then struggle to reintegrate into their communities and face high rates of homelessness, unemployment, chronic poverty, depression and even suicide.

Greater political and financial commitment is needed to tackle the poverty and social exclusion that drives families to give up their children. This includes wide-ranging measures to combat poverty, discrimination and stigmatization, to change attitudes towards single parenthood and disability, and to adopt social policies promoting family empowerment and parenting skills. Greater priority must also be given to developing good-quality family-based care options, such as foster care and adoption, for the girls and boys who need alternative families.

The documents in this section examine the relationship between poverty, social exclusion and placement of children in alternative care.

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Childhood Poverty and Cognitive Development in Latin America in the 21st Century

M. Soledad Segretin1,2, M. Julia Hermida3, Lucía M. Prats, Carolina S. Fracchia, Eliana Ruetti, and Sebastián J. Lipina - New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 02 Jun 2016

The aim of the present paper is to systematically review the empirical studies that have analyzed the associations between poverty and cognitive development in children under 18 years of age from Latin American and Caribbean countries between 2000 and 2015.

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The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child

UNICEF, 01 Jun 2016

This report from UNICEF discusses the state of world’s children and points out that when it comes to the development and survival of children, odds are stacked against those from the poorest and most disadvantaged households.

Out of the Shadows: Supporting LGBTQ Youth in Child Welfare through Cross-System Collaboration

Martin, M., Down, L., & Erney, R. - The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), 01 May 2016

This report highlights the research on the disparities that exist between LGBTQ foster youth and their nonLGBTQ peers, as well as the compounding effects these factors have in relation to other intersecting factors including race, ethnicity, culture and language.

The Situation of 0-3 Years Old Temporarily Abandoned Children, in Romania, during 2003-2013 Causes, Consequences and Alternatives

Rebeca Scorcia Popescu, 01 May 2016

This study used a secondary analysis of data from 2003 to 2013 to better understand the situation of children temporarily abandoned in Romania. It looked at data for children aged 0-3 years who were abandoned in different hospital units or institutionalized in public orphanages or public and private foster care institutions.

The complexities of cultural support planning for Indigenous children in and leaving out-of-home care: the views of service providers in Victoria, Australia

Susan Baidawi, Philip Mendes and Bernadette J. Saunders - Child and Family Social Work, 19 Apr 2016

This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with seven child and family welfare agencies to investigate the impacts, barriers, benefits and limitations of cultural support planning for Indigenous young people in, and leaving care in, Victoria.

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A Forgotten Population: Estimating the Number of Children Outside of Households in Cambodia

Beth L. Rubenstein, Lindsay Stark - Global Social Welfare, 14 Apr 2016

This manuscript reviews the issues facing children outside of households and argues for the importance of gathering robust data about this population to formulate responsive policies and services, mobilize resources, and foster accountability.

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A Shared Sentence: The devastating toll of parental incarceration on kids, families and communities

Kids Count - Annie E. Casey Foundation, 01 Apr 2016

This policy report from Kids Count outlines the impacts that parental incarceration has on children, and on communities as a whole, particularly in the context of mass incarceration in the United States. The report concludes with recommendations for investing in families to mediate the detrimental effects of parental incarceration, which disproportionately affects people of color in the United States.

"Skirt? Nope, not for me!" Sexual and gender self-determination for children and youth in alternative care settings

Dreilinden gGmbH / SOS Children’s Villages International, 01 Apr 2016

This issue paper explores the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) children and young people in alternative care settings and highlights some promising practices.

Researching the linkages between social protection and children’s care in South Africa: The Child Support Grant and Foster Child Grant and their effects on child well-being and care

Keetie Roelen, Helen Karki Chettri, Suzanne Clulow, Camilla Jones, Payal Saksena and Emily Delap - Family for Every Child, 01 Apr 2016

This report presents research on the impact of two cash transfer programs for vulnerable children in South Africa on children’s care.

Migration, Remittances and Nutrition Outcomes of Left-Behind Children: A National-Level Quantitative Assessment of Guatemala

Jason Davis, Noli Brazil - PLoS ONE, 24 Mar 2016

This investigation into economic migration of Guatemalan parents shows that the timing of migration events in relation to left-behind children’s ages has important, often negative and likely permanent, repercussions on the physical development of their children.

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