Handbook on Child Poverty and Inequality

by Alberto Minujin (Editor), Enrique Delamonica (Editor)

Overview

This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the conceptualisation and the latest developments in research about child poverty and inequality. Adopting a child rights framework, it demonstrates the importance of a multi-dimensional understanding of poverty specific to children for both research and policy-making.

Expert authors analyse inequalities, inequities, and poverty experienced by children. They cover key topics including the voices of children living in poverty, the use of machine learning and big data in research, and the emotional, physical and social dimensions of poverty experienced by children. Recognising the extensive links between child poverty and inequality in practice, the Handbook identifies how to overcome the current disconnect between research on the two topics. Drawing on empirical evidence, it explores how to create and enhance national and international policies to address, reduce, and ultimately eliminate child poverty and inequalities.

The Handbook on Child Poverty and Inequality is an essential resource for students and scholars across a wide range of disciplines, including of development studies, the sociology of youth and childhood, and social policy in emerging countries. It is also a valuable read for policy-makers seeking to uphold and expand the rights of children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781802200423
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	07/10/2025
Series:	Elgar Handbooks on Inequality
Pages:	534
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 9.62(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by Alberto Minujin, Equity for Children, The New School and Enrique Delamonica, UNICEF

Table of Contents

Contents
PART I The state of the art 1
SECTION 1 Concepts and measurements
Introduction to the Handbook on Child Poverty and Inequality 5
1 Brief history of child poverty measurement 15
2 Inequality, children, and the SDGs: a critical enquiry 39
3 Towards a better measurement of child poverty: relative deprivation of socially
perceived needs and the consensual approach 57
4 Understanding children’s experiences of poverty in context: a localised
qualitative assessment 77
5 Children in monetary poor households 93
6 Child poverty and capabilities 109
7 Quality of life and child poverty 123
SECTION 2 Policies and actions
8 Analysing and redressing (the myriad manifestations of) child poverty and
socio-economic and political exclusions 139
9 Families as a resource in the work with disadvantaged children and large
institutions 149
10 Child poverty, adolescents’ aspirations, and social change 167
11 The vital role of cash transfers in tackling child poverty 187
12 Macroeconomics and children 207
13 How do we end child poverty? A policy agenda 223
14 Youth at the crossroads: the challenges of unemployment, occupational
instability and early labor force entry 237
PART II Future avenues 251
PART 3 FURTHER ANALYSIS
15 Quantifying the policies to reduce and eliminate child poverty 255
16 Fiscal equity for children: the impact of fiscal policies in reducing poverty and
inequality 271
17 Are the poorest families the most violent? 285
18 Measuring child poverty in times of shocks and crises 303
19 Examining the links between child multi-dimensional deprivation and distance
to health centres and schools 319
20 Micro-projections of multidimensional child poverty in sub-Saharan Africa 337
21 Child poverty in humanitarian contexts: comparing children among refugees
and host communities 365
22 Children in monetary poor households and multidimensional child poverty 379
PART 4 EXPANDING HORIZONS/EXPANDING MEASUREMENTS
23 Rights-based policies, processes, and solutions for community public spaces,
social integration, and recreational facilities for urban children in poverty 405
24 Measuring gender differences in multidimensional child poverty 429
25 Children with disabilities: rights, discrimination, and poverty 441
26 Child poverty in conflict-caused emergencies 459
27 Time resourcefulness of children: from time poverty to time availability 481
28 Beyond child poverty: material and non-material deprivation 501
29 We have measured child poverty; now what? Using panel data to explore
transitions to adulthood 515

Editorial Reviews

‘The Handbook on Child Poverty and Inequality is a landmark. It provides a comprehensive overview of the subject, exhibits the state of knowledge, describes the history of the field and sets an agenda. It represents decades of committed research by leading child poverty researchers and professionals and contributions by emerging scholars. It will be an essential resource.’

Sanjay G. Reddy

‘This is an essential Handbook for all those who recognize that children remain invisible in the economic policy debate and want to do something about it, both by improving the way in which we understand and measure child poverty, and by transforming political priorities and policies so that child poverty is effectively addressed in its complexity.’

Leonardo Garnier

‘Children are often invisible victims of crises and underdevelopment. This comprehensive Handbook covers all the main topics on poverty and inequality in childhood, from concepts and measurements to policies and actions to effectively end child poverty.’

Isabel Ortiz