Making ends meet - NSW Commission for Children and Young People

What does this mean?

In Kids Stats finding it hard to make ends meet refers to children and young people who live in households that receive assistance for financial hardship from non-government charities.

Why is it important?

For most families, household income is the most important determinant of their economic situation.

Children and young people living in low-income households are more likely to not have enough for a minimum standard of living. These children are more likely to be poor in health, show lower levels of achievement at school, have learning and behavioural difficulties and experience poorer quality and stability of care [1,2].

There are also emotional costs of ‘going without’ for some children and young people, such as labelling, shame and exclusion. In the words of one young person:

“Some families haven’t got enough money to buy their children new clothes so they are always getting handed down clothes from their older siblings and then those younger kids are going to be like, I never get anything new and they are going to feel left out of things. And then they will get put down at school, just from what I’ve seen. They get put down at school. And that makes them in themselves not as good.” (Girl, 15)

Indicator

The indicator used in Kids Stats to monitor dependence on non-government charities for financial hardship is:

The number of families with children who received assistance for financial hardship from selected non-government charities.

Notes:

[1] Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G.J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The future of children, children and poverty, 7(2), 55-71.
[2] Saunders, P. (2007). Towards new indicators of disadvantage project: Bulleting No. 2: Deprivation in Australia. Social Policy and Research Centre Newsletter No. 96, May 2007, 7-10.

For details of the references and to find out more about the data follow the link to Glossary and further information