Research showing that parents do not spend money on drugs etc thus depriving their children of food?

[JulyBreeze]

Have been googling and can't find anything. Lots of research into child poverty and food insecurity that strongly implies there are other reasons (benefits sanctions etc etc) but nothing proving that it's rarely the parents' "fault" (obviously these situations can be complex, so I use that word advisedly).

Please show me something which isn't anecdotal or based on self-reporting, from a credible UK source. By self-reporting I mean parents saying they can't afford to buy food sometimes.

Thanks. I think it's an important question, that needs answering with credibility.

Research showing that parents do not spend money on drugs etc thus depriving their children of food?

I've read and reread this - what do you mean?

What do you want to know for? Why can't you do your own research? If you have googled and can't find anything, why do you think others will be able to?

You want other people to do your work for you?

If you can't find it, why would anyone else be able to?

I don't know how you'd prove that really. It's like saying, prove that most parents don't beat their children

Lots of research into child poverty and food insecurity that strongly implies there are other reasons (benefits sanctions etc etc) but nothing proving that it's rarely the parents' "fault"

what? Proves what is rarely the parents fault? Drug use?

Hi, I'm from the social sciences department of the University of Warwickshire. When you pick up your state benefits, do you spend the money on drugs while your kids go hungry a) sometimes b) always c) never?

@MorrisZapp

Hi, I'm from the social sciences department of the University of Warwickshire. When you pick up your state benefits, do you spend the money on drugs while your kids go hungry a) sometimes b) always c) never?

Exactly! People who spend their benefits on drugs instead of feeding their kids are hardly going to report it, are they?

Your title makes no sense .. what the hell are you going on about ?

I think the op is looking for evidence to prove that child poverty isn't the result of feckless parents with addiction problems.

Op your title is confusing but I assume you are asking 'is there any evidence that child poverty can be the result of parents spending all their money on drugs'?
In which case as a PP has said, no there probably isn't as that can't be measured reliably.

I used to volunteer as a advocate for people facing eviction. I have had someone confirm to the judge that the arrears payment they had promised at the previous hearing was spent on drugs instead. They had children.
There is not much you can say at that point other than to ask the judge to think about the welfare of children when making their decision.

So it may not be the main issue but it can be an issue.

Try scholar.google.com/

@formerbabe

I think the op is looking for evidence to prove that child poverty isn't the result of feckless parents with addiction problems.

Or trying to prove that it is. I can't work it out.

FWIW of course there are parents who starve their children. And choose drugs over them. And then there are many addict parents who don't.

It sounds like you’re looking for evidence that most of the parents of children who go hungry, never make any non-essential purchases?

Or is it parents on drugs you are interested in specifically?

How do you define fault. An inability to budget effectively might be a fault but it can be down to a total lack of practical financial education in this country.

There are plenty of think-tanks out there that look at this kind of thing, places like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, for instance.

Even Her Majesty's Government produces research occasionally - have a look at assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285389/Cm_8781_Child_Poverty_Evidence_Review_Print.pdf for an example. The CAB is another source of advice that might meet your requirements - www.guildfordcab.org.uk/the-lies-and-myths-we-tell-ourselves/ and some papers (notably the Guardian and occasionally the BBC, though they obviously only have a few minutes to get the salient facts across) publish articles in this area too - www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/16/new-study-finds-45-million-uk-children-living-in-povertyIf you're looking for academic papers have a look on Google Scholar (if you don't have access to more specialised databases) or just a Google Search with the terms you're interested in, something like "feckless parent" site:.uk (that last bit restricts your search just to sites with .uk in the domain)

There are plenty of think-tanks out there that look at this kind of thing, places like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, for instance.

Even Her Majesty's Government produces research occasionally - have a look at assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285389/Cm_8781_Child_Poverty_Evidence_Review_Print.pdf for an example. The CAB is another source of advice that might meet your requirements - www.guildfordcab.org.uk/the-lies-and-myths-we-tell-ourselves/ and some papers (notably the Guardian and occasionally the BBC, though they obviously only have a few minutes to get the salient facts across) publish articles in this area too - www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/16/new-study-finds-45-million-uk-children-living-in-povertyIf you're looking for academic papers have a look on Google Scholar (if you don't have access to more specialised databases) or just a Google Search with the terms you're interested in, something like "feckless parent" site:.uk (that last bit restricts your search just to sites with .uk in the domain)

Rats. Didn't mean to hit the publish key once, never mind twice! I was also going to add the caveat that all of this relates to a pre-COVID-19 world, before the civilised west starting fighting about toilet rolls....

Sorry if I wasn't clear! Yes, I meant is there evidence somewhere to argue against the misconception (my view) that the reason for food poverty is NOT that parents are spending income on non-essentials - drugs probably being the most quoted example, in the right wing press etc - ?

I wouldn't have thought it was too hard to prove.... longitudinal study? And very worthwhile.

I knew AIBU might not be the best place to post this question, but couldn't see another board which would be more specific and that would actually be seen.

@Sophiafour thank you so much. I have looked at JRF etc already, although not in depth. The CAB piece you link is good and I eventually found the churches article it’s taken from, but neither show actual evidence. The quoted figure of “only 4% of benefit claimants say they have an addiction” is obviously self reported. Yes lots of articles on child poverty, but not so many on the reasons.

But I will search in google scholar, thanks.

To clarify, I definitely believe it's rarely the parents' "fault".

And sorry, of course I've tried doing my own research first, as I said originally. Surely many of us post questions on MN about things that we might be able to answer if we spent hours researching, but other posters may pretty instantly know the answer? Isn't that one of the strengths of MN - we all have our own areas of expertise?

@JulyBreeze - of course; I'd once spent weeks and weeks trying to find something I needed to sort out a problem in the house, a quick message on here and I had some good suggestions within 24 hours. You might also get some decent academic reports on the topic from core.ac.uk/

I agree that the problem will be finding a reliable sample group. The parents who do spend their benefits / wages on drugs and alcohol rather than food etc are unlikely to a) be engaged enough to bother with answering research studies and b) likely to admit it.

So you will never find a reliable answer to your question.

Your best bet would be something from say a food bank or multi agency report that will correlate x% of families who needed support / food bank referral also had SS involvement for drugs / alcohol but again that doesn't necessarily include everyone as drugs and alcohol are by design very secretive addictions.

To be fair I think the main misconception is actually more that it's spent on 50inch tvs, sky and broadband rather than drugs

I have clients that have / do. It's really sad. I then have to give them food and gas and electric to tide them over to next benefit payment. Poor kids.

OP, what you are describing is child neglect not child poverty.

Begin your research by investigating how child poverty is measured. It’s related to the family’s income etc.

Well you don't really need to prove what they are or aren't spending it on. You just need to see that their income does not meet minimum standards (as per the previous references to the JRF), so they can't possibly provide a decent standard of living to their children, whether they buy drugs or not.