Child poverty

This chapter explores the meaning of child poverty; the consequences of child poverty; the causes of child poverty; and the responses to child poverty. United Nations Children&s;s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) offers an alternative, and perhaps more comprehensive, discourse to the meaning of child poverty. The European Commission preserved its 1975 European Council&s;s description of &s;child poverty&s;. It correlates poverty to inadequate income and resources that prevent them from having an acceptable standard of living similar to others in their society. The UK&s;s Department for Work and Pension&s;s figures show that from 2013 to 2014, there were 3.7 million children living in poverty – three in every ten children in the UK. Some of the factors affecting child poverty include individuals&s; beliefs, attitudes and behaviors; political factors; and economic factors. Studies have found that low-income families in general consume fewer nutrients and fresh fruits and vegetables than average-income families.