Think of the children
LibertyCat has read the full UNICEF child poverty report and was planning to blog about it.
However, as a taster... Femme-de-R notices that of the 6 dimensions used to measure child poverty, material well-being was measured as 'relative' comparative to conditions in that country (the report acknowledges that this is controversial).
It is for this reason that Grauniad is on debatable ground when it claims that:
Today's findings will be a blow to the government, which has set great store by lifting children out of poverty...
In addition, at least two of the dimensions are entirely subjective (family relationships and subjective well-being). Is 'eating a main meal around the table with parents' a good indicator of family bonds? And are the responses of children to a survey asking them about their well-being an adequate indicator of variations in well-being between countries or reflect something else entirely (e.g. culture norms or media messages)?
Hopefully LibertyCat will blog on this further...
However, as a taster... Femme-de-R notices that of the 6 dimensions used to measure child poverty, material well-being was measured as 'relative' comparative to conditions in that country (the report acknowledges that this is controversial).
It is for this reason that Grauniad is on debatable ground when it claims that:
Today's findings will be a blow to the government, which has set great store by lifting children out of poverty...
In addition, at least two of the dimensions are entirely subjective (family relationships and subjective well-being). Is 'eating a main meal around the table with parents' a good indicator of family bonds? And are the responses of children to a survey asking them about their well-being an adequate indicator of variations in well-being between countries or reflect something else entirely (e.g. culture norms or media messages)?
Hopefully LibertyCat will blog on this further...
Labels: Grauniad bashing, pointy-headed wowzers, poverty, small people
posted by Femme de Resistance @ 8:16 pm
3 Comments:
At 9:12 pm ,
James said...
It's certainly very difficult to definitively prove anything in this respect, but on an anecdotal level the UK is distinctly less socially cohesive and less certain of its own identity than many other countries which I've visited and lived in - some of which are used in this survey.
At 12:55 am ,
Raw Carrot said...
I'm sure the Government think they're doing a great job -- so I wouldn't bother trying to figure it all out.
At 11:06 am ,
Unknown said...
Is 'eating a main meal around the table with parents' a good indicator of family bonds?
Depends whether you've had to shackle the kids to their chairs to stop them dashing back to their rooms/playstations/x-boxes/etc ;)
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