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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Family Matters: A Study of Institutional Child Care in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (Shorter Version)

Richard Carter - Every Child, 2005

This report reviews the faltering progress made in childcare reform across Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union over the 15 years since the ‘orphanages’ of Romania were revealed to the world.

Social Cash Transfers: Reaching the Poorest

Bernd Schubert, 2005

This paper explores the role and process of social cash transfers to reduce poverty and provide social protection. It examines a pilot cash transfer program in Zambia.

Forward-Looking Review: World Vision's Approaches to Integrating Microenterprise Development and HIV/AIDS Response

Jill Donahue, 2005

A report on several pilot projects launched by the World Vision and affiliated microfinance institutions to address the association between poverty and HIV. A description of pilot projects in Zimbabwe, Uganda, South Africa and Malawi are discussed.

Mental and Social Health During and After Acute Emergencies: Emerging Consensus?

Mark van Ommeren, Shekhar Saxena, and Benedetto Saraceno, 2005

A summary of the debate on the value of PTSD and trauma-focused care during and after acute emergencies. Argues for and outlines distinct intervention strategies to be considered for acute emergency and post-emergency phases.

A Study of Child Vulnerability in Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Mark Loudon, 2005

Country-based analysis of child vulnerability in Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Includes statistical and demographic data on vulnerable populations. Identifies specific barriers to meeting regional needs in child protection.

Investing in the Children of the Islamic World

UNICEF, 2005

This report presents an overview of the Millennium Development Goals and ‘A World Fit for Children’ commitments, the situation of children in the Islamic world, and the constraints and challenges facing children in the region in regards to health, education, poverty, child protection, and HIV/AIDS. The report asks “are we fulfilling our commitment to children?”

Promising Practices in Community-Based Social Services in CEE/CIS/Baltics

Rebecca T. Davis, 2005

Provides a framework for analysis of community-based social welfare services and linkages with government structures. Includes analysis of alternative care provision, de-institutionalization, programming for children with disabilities, standards of care, and overall social welfare sector reform.

Children in Institutional Care: The Status of their Rights and Protection in Sri Lanka

Save the Children Sri Lanka and Save the Children Canada, 31 Dec 2004

A situation analysis of children in institutional care that includes policy implications and key recommendations.

Brazil's Bolsa Escola Program: The Role of Local Governance in Decentralized Implementation

Alain de Janvry, Frederico Finan, Elisabeth Sadoulet, Donald Nelson, Kathy Lindert, Benedict de la Briere, and Peter Lanjouw , 31 Dec 2004

Evaluation of the Bolsa Escola Program, which was a Brazilian social services program that provided cash transfers to families provided that their school-aged children would be enrolled in and attending school. Examines how beneficiaries were selected, registered, and monitored. Cites inconsistencies in implementation and roles of municipal governments as significant finding.

The drivers of social exclusion Review of the literature for the Social Exclusion Unit in the Breaking the Cycle series

Jonathan Bradshaw, Peter Kemp, Sally Baldwin and Abigail Rowe - Office of the Prime Minister, 01 Sep 2004

This document is a literature review for the purpose of determining the drivers of social exclusion. Its objectives were to: 1) determine the current drivers; 2) determine emerging drivers that might have a future impact on social inclusion; 3) Assess the relative strength of drivers.