Childhood Poverty in Rajasthan: A review of literature
Kanchan Mathur; Shobhita Rajagopal; Pradeep Bhargava (2004)
What is the relationship between livelihoods, childhood poverty and wellbeing in Rajasthan? What are the effects of childhood poverty in later life?
This literature review forms the basis for the ongoing primary research on childhood poverty in Rajasthan being undertaken by IDS Jaipur as part of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP) programme of work. It uses a livelihoods framework to explore how processes in the management of natural resources such as forests and water, and in access to education, health, infrastructure and social capital affect key aspects of education, health and work of children, as well as the inter-generational transfer of poverty.
The paper highlights that:
The experience of childhood poverty is substantially affected by gender, caste and community, with particularly high discrepancies between the wellbeing of boys and girls compared to other parts of India.
Health conditions are partly responsible for poverty transfers and out-of-school children are likely to have a lifetime of poverty.
Some poor children are unable to attend school because of the livelihood strategies adopted by households where children may be forced to work for wages and share the domestic burden of work. Migration accentuates problems of childhood poverty and the inter-generational transfer of poverty.
The paper concludes by emphasising the need for:
Strategic interventions and an integrated approach to help poor people break poverty cycles in a context of high levels of inequality and differential access to resources.
Further research to fill the gaps in existing knowledge, for example on the relationship of malnourishment to inter-generational transfers of poverty in the context of recurrent drought conditions, and on the role of civil society organisations and government programmes in breaking poverty cycles. |
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