The numbers speak for themselves in terms of the crisis of hunger among kids in the United States: More than 16 million children--one in five--live in households that struggle to put food on the table. Nearly half of all food stamp recipients are children. But, argues Felling, the battle against childhood hunger can be won; the United States has…

In a given year, approximately 1.6 million children in the United States experience homelessness, and research shows that their living conditions generally place these children at risk for educational underperformance and failure at school (Hall, 2007; Love, 2009). Although lack of education or low levels of education on the part of a head of…

Recent social policy discourses in Aotearoa New Zealand focus on vulnerable children's well-being and the detrimental, long-term and costly impacts of child poverty. The discourse pervading much of the policy labels children and young people as "vulnerable" or "at risk" or "in crisis", a view, which we argue, is both…

Within developed countries child poverty is a social problem with significant negative effects. With a backdrop of austerity, the UK's first child poverty strategy was released in 2011. Pervaded by neo-liberal ideology this strategy identifies preschool services as key to remediating the negative effects of child poverty on children and families…

This study examined the prevalence of indicators of disability or potential disability among preschool-aged children enrolled in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Longitudinal Follow-Up. Three categories of indicators were established: received Part B services, developmental risk, and biological risk. The majority of participating…

Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have two main objectives: reducing poverty and increasing the human capital of children. To reach these objectives, transfers are given to poor households conditioned on investments in their children's education, health, and nutrition. Targeting mechanisms used by CCTs have been generally successful in…

Nearly one in five children under age 18 lived in poor families in 2008, according to poverty statistics released by the Census Bureau in September 2009. Though high, this statistic does not capture the full impact of the economic downturn, which is expected to drive poverty even higher in 2009. However, updated poverty statistics will not be…

Character educators have a special responsibility to look after children's welfare. At a time when one out of every five children lives below the poverty line, and the United States ranks next to last among the wealthiest nations of the world in looking after the well-being of its children, character educators cannot be silent. Character educators…

Outlines the main elements of the British Children's Fund to examine whether it has the necessary elements needed to make a real difference in the lives of children living in poverty. (JPB)

For many African children today, the grim realities of everyday life are far removed from models of education based on traditional wisdom. Part of an attempt to draw the attention of a wide public to the situation of street children, this book focuses on the educational aspects of a problem from which no country is spared. The book focuses…

Discusses the philosophical underpinings of providing public assistance to the poor based on the 'desert' model. Argues that society has a moral obligation to provide subsidized medical care to all poor people. (AOS)

Describes the failure of the low incomes of working and welfare poor to provide minimally sufficient food, proper nutrition and corresponding good health. Recommends the establishment of governmental programs to provide adequate nourishing food and nutrition information to need sectiony of the population. (SF)

The Foster Grandparent Program was started in Nashville, Tennessee, as a demonstration program under the Office of Economic Opportunity; it was designed to help senior citizens support themselves by acting as grandparents to children who do not have their own. At Clover Bottom Hospital and School for the Retarded Child, 13 foster grandmothers work…

This country has long debated the question of how to design the welfare system, particularly the federally supported Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program which provides cash assistance to families headed primarily by female single parents. A pressing issue is whether welfare programs should continue to be broad entitlements or…

Child welfare services currently operate in an environment characterized by increasing need for services, and calls for cost containment and system reform. To survive in this environment, foster care agencies will have to reexamine their use of resources to ensure that they are used to achieve the best possible outcomes for the children in their…