The nature of poverty in Germany has changed. This is clearly demonstrated by a study presented by the Steinbeis Innovation Center IfaS – Institute for Applied Social Sciences. Social scientists have long been talking of an “infantilization of poverty”: children are increasingly subject to new dimensions of poverty. The study approached child poverty from a social science perspective, individually examining problematic situations and processes of social exclusion. Based on the results, the study recommended courses of action on three levels.
The study, entitled “The People Behind the Statistics”, was commissioned by the Caritas organizations of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, in partnership with the Rottenburg-Stuttgart Diocese Committee. Its aim was to investigate the degree of child poverty and its effects in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. To achieve this, the IfaS designed the study along original lines by combining research into childhood with research into poverty. So the study did not focus solely on the affected households’ lack of financial means, but rather the extent to which children in poor households are impaired in achieving their goals in life and excluded from participating in various social systems. This is due to a lack of vital commodities, income, influence, developmental opportunities, or any combination of these factors. This complex, multidimensional understanding of poverty is central to the study’s framework. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, the IfaS analyzed the effects of extremely low household income on five different areas of childhood development, and on three separate planes of references (the child, the family and the social environment).
Like similar studies, this study initially used income as a basic measure of poverty, examining statistics concerning benefit claims (German ALG II unemployment benefits) and information provided by the German Socio- Economic Panel. The results were clear: in the “rich” state of Baden-Württemberg, poverty is increasing in a number of social environments. In five cities, over 15 per cent of children under 18 live in households dependent on benefits. This figure is highest in Mannheim, at 23 per cent. Another key insight gained from this part of the study is that younger children are more likely to grow up in poverty. For example, 27.8 per cent of preschool children in Mannheim live in families dependent on ALG II unemployment benefits; the state-wide average is 12 per cent. In other words, approximately one in every eight children under the age of seven in Baden- Württemberg lives in a household dependent on financial help from the state.
For the qualitative field study, the IfaS conducted interviews with 24 parents and 19 children from four different types of social environment in Baden-Württemberg. Access to these families was provided via Caritas facilities, with which all interviewees were in regular contact.
In the area of physical development and health, the study highlighted a range of risks to children’s emotional development. These risks are greater if parents or guardians are overwhelmed by the effects of poverty and are suffering from psychological problems. Other health risks which children in poor homes are subject to include physical and emotional neglect, a lack of structure and socialization, and being the victim of violence. In addition to this unhealthy social environment in the home, psychosocial stress factors have a strong negative effect on childhood development. The many indications of social withdrawal as a response to poverty are especially concerning.
In the area of cognitive development, education and learning, the results of the study helped to explain the often catastrophic educational development of children from poor households. The lack of basic development opportunities for poor children plays a major role here, especially at the end of primary school, when children in Germany are separated into different schools according to academic ability. Here, the interest which adults take in their children’s education is critical, as is the extent to which they provide their children with the support they need to learn. This means that children from poor households tend to be excluded from educational opportunities – and older children are increasingly likely to experience problems in school and conflicts at home. Poorer families often see their children’s education as the sole responsibility of external institutions. Factors like these have a significant impact on the educational, professional and personal development of children growing up in poor households.
“I can’t afford to say ‘Invite a couple of friends round’...”. This was how one mother expressed the critical deficit that poor children face in social development, social skills and social contact. Poor families have a strong tendency to isolate themselves. As such, many children growing up in poor homes have extremely limited opportunities to develop healthy social relationships. Although some poor families cope through solidarity and by supporting each other, it is far more common for poor families to isolate themselves or ostracized by others. Despite these families facing similar social and financial challenges, each situation remains distinct and is often marked by high levels of exclusion. As a result, children from poor households experience social ostracism at an early age, and soon come to realize that they are disadvantaged and have low social status – which, alarmingly, they only rarely escape from during their lifetime.
Just as in education, poor children also experience deficits in the area of cultural development and leisure activities: children in poor families are under-stimulated when it comes to leisure and play. In the urban areas with the highest levels of child poverty, there was a lack of public leisure facilities (such as playgrounds, sports areas and parks) close to the affected households. Critical and controlled consumption of electronic media is rare; rather, use of these media tends to be frequent and overwhelmingly passive. The study determined that the deficit in this case is an excess of stimuli, which children are essentially beholden to. The study also indicated that children from poor homes made very little use of public cultural facilities. Common family activities were rare: children rarely leave the social environment of the home, and for the most part, each day is near-identical to the next.
Children growing up in poor households experience critical deficits when it comes to developing stable personality traits. In the area of personal development, self-respect and self-esteem, many of the results discussed above have a cumulative effect. Every interviewee raised the issue of being (un)able to consume goods. Parents and children experience stress as the ever-present financial barrier and inability to make purchases lead to disappointment, accusations, jealousy and shame. There is often a tense atmosphere in poor families, and children are allowed little say. In many cases, children are also forced to perform tasks and adopt roles which are well beyond their years, and for which they are not yet emotionally ready. Most children had little or nothing to say about themselves or their own strengths.
Children from poor households who are denied these critical opportunities for development and participation (and who live in manifest or extreme poverty) require the support of everyone. The poverty of children and their families is a challenge facing all of society. One of the most oppressive aspects of manifest or extreme poverty highlighted by the study is the “social cocooning” of poor families.
Young people in particular are in extreme danger of spending their whole lives trapped in poverty. For these children to have a brighter future, society must take steps to ensure that low income in families does not negatively impact children’s development and opportunities. It is time for society to take an unvarnished look at poverty and appreciate how complex this phenomenon is – especially the dramatic and shocking developments presented in this study, which characterize the problematic nature of child poverty today. It is time to communicate this state of affairs to the politicians and public authorities in charge, and demand that they take appropriate action.
Professor Dr. Susanne Schäfer-Walkmann
Constanze Störk-Biber (M. A.)
Steinbeis Innovation Center IfaS – Institute for Applied Social Sciences (Stuttgart)
stz1208@stw.de