Nursery World - Nursery Management: Poverty

Early years practitioners know that part of their job is reducing the disadvantage gap. But what do they really think of poor children? Dr Donald Simpson, who has led a two-year study into practitioners'perceptions of poverty, reports.

Poverty is not a minority issue. According to Barnardo's, an estimated 3.7 million children are living in poverty - over a quarter. People working in the early years sector are now, globally, seen as key to helping to change this. Yet little is known about how early years practitioners view poverty.

Across developed countries, poverty is, at least theoretically, recognised to be a problem for society. We know it harms every aspect of children's lives: materially, like having enough food to eat; educationally - underachieving at school; socially, in its links to unemployment and crime; psychologically and physically, as poverty and brain development are connected. Thus it isn't just a moral issue; poverty has economic and social consequences for the well-being of everyone.

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