University of Bath PHD Children's Rights in Policy and Poverty
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University of Bath PHD Children’s Rights in Policy and Poverty: An Analysis of Iceland, Norway & the UK Jeans, Cynthia Award date: 2013 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 Children’s Rights in Policy and Poverty: An analysis of Iceland, Norway & the UK Cynthia Lisa Jeans A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath Department of Social and Policy Studies May 2013 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with the author. A copy of this thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that they must not copy it or use material from it except as permitted by law or with the consent of the author. This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purposes of consultation. _______________________________________________________________ 1 2 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... 11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 13 AIM ............................................................................................................................................. 14 DATA ........................................................................................................................................... 16 METHODS ..................................................................................................................................... 17 ORGANIZATION OF THE CHAPTERS ...................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 2. CHILDREN, SOCIAL POLICY AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS ......................................... 20 THE CHILD ..................................................................................................................................... 22 SOCIAL POLICY AND CHILDREN........................................................................................................... 29 THE GOVERNANCE OF CHILDREN ........................................................................................................ 34 TENSIONS BETWEEN THE STATE, THE PARENT AND THE CHILD .................................................................. 36 SOCIAL INVESTMENT: THE BEINGS OR BECOMINGS DEBATE ..................................................................... 42 CHILDREN‘S RIGHTS......................................................................................................................... 45 COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN CHILD POLICY ............................................................................................. 58 CHAPTER 3. DATA: CHILD POVERTY IN THE STATES AND POLICIES SELECTED ........................ 63 SELECTING STATES .......................................................................................................................... 64 CHILD POVERTY AND WELL-BEING RATES ............................................................................................ 77 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN ICELAND, NORWAY AND THE UK ......................................................................... 87 SELECTING POLICIES TO STUDY .......................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 4. METHODOLOGY AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................ 99 THE UN CRC AS A RESEARCH TOOL ................................................................................................. 100 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 103 METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................................ 105 APPLICATION ............................................................................................................................... 114 CHAPTER 5. CHILD SUPPORT POLICIES AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS ......................................... 127 DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................... 138 ICELAND ...................................................................................................................................... 152 NORWAY..................................................................................................................................... 162 UNITED KINGDOM ........................................................................................................................ 173 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 179 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................. 189 3 CHAPTER 6. CHILD BENEFITS AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS........................................................ 192 CLASSIFYING CHILD BENEFIT AND CHILD TAX CREDIT POLICIES ............................................................... 195 ICELAND ...................................................................................................................................... 198 NORWAY ..................................................................................................................................... 211 UNITED KINGDOM ........................................................................................................................ 220 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 229 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................. 234 CHAPTER 7. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS .............. 236 POVERTY AND ECEC ..................................................................................................................... 245 ICELAND ...................................................................................................................................... 260 NORWAY ..................................................................................................................................... 269 UK ............................................................................................................................................. 281 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 294 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................. 299 CHAPTER 8. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 301 FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................................... 301 CHILD SUPPORT AND ECONOMIC WELFARE ........................................................................................ 303 CHILD BENEFIT AND SOCIAL SECURITY ............................................................................................... 305 ECEC, CAPABILITIES, GENDER ISSUES AND SOCIAL INVESTMENT ............................................................ 305 CLASSIFICATION ............................................................................................................................ 307 AUSTERITY ................................................................................................................................... 309 FUTURE RESEARCH .......................................................................................................................