Citation
Barnardos. (2004). ChildLinks Issue 3: Children and Creativity. https://knowledge.barnardos.ie/handle/20.500.13085/865
Abstract
The theme of the Barnardos pre-budget
submission to Government this year
is ‘invest in children’. It may be a cliché
to say that children are the future but it is also
arguable that investment in children will pay
economic and social dividends in the future. As an organisation which works primarily in
disadvantaged communities, Barnardos is
particularly concerned that the 2005 budget
should prioritise the needs of disadvantaged
children. The evidence of child poverty in
Ireland is well documented and irrefutable.
The most recent data (2001) shows that
6.5% of children in Ireland or 66,000
children are living in consistent poverty.
While acknowledging that Government has
made significant progress on alleviating
consistent poverty, the relative poverty figures
have actually disimproved. In 2001 over
23% or 237,000 children lived in families
experiencing relative income poverty. What do these statistics mean in reality for the
children and families experiencing poverty?
Barnardos meets the many faces of child
poverty through our work with children and
families. Many families with whom we work
often find themselves trapped in a cycle
of welfare dependency, low paid work,
unemployment, debt and cyclical money
crises. Children suffer too. Often families
cannot afford the costs of ‘free education’
including uniforms, schoolbooks, transport,
meals and after school activities. Children in
disadvantaged areas often have little or no
access to play, recreation or arts facilities and
their families cannot afford the cost of a weekly
swim, a trip to McDonalds or the cinema,
outings which most children take for granted. Returning to the ‘invest in children’ theme
referred to already, the arguments for early intervention and prevention also support
the case for increasing our investment in
children. The evidence from the Perry
Preschool project and others in the US
support the argument for early intervention
and investment in early years services. The
High/Scope Perry Pre-school Programme
reported a cost benefit ratio of 7 to 1. In
other words there was a return of 7 dollars
on every dollar invested which included
savings arising out of decreases in crime
figures and juvenile justice system savings. Barnardos supports the case for national
universal quality early years provision, both
from the cost-benefit analysis point of view
and arising from a commitment to best
outcomes for children. In Budget 2005 the
Government should begin to introduce a
comprehensive quality early years service for all
three and four year-olds. It should prioritise
disadvantaged children in the first few years and should be extended to all children in the future.
It is also important that strategies and services
to support children’s rights, put in place by
Government, are adequately resourced. In
particular, the Government should allocate
additional resources to the Ombudsman for
Children's Office, the Family Support Agency,
and the National Educational Welfare Board
to enable them carry out their roles in
relation to children. Budget 2005 offers the Government the
opportunity to address the plight of
disadvantaged children and families. All the
economic indicators and the public finances
are positive. There is an abundance of research
and policy advice available to Government
on which measures to adopt in tackling
child poverty. An investment in children is
an investment in all our futures.