What is poverty? Three key concepts and their impact on children and young people 

Poverty means not having the money or resources to meet basic needs.

This could affect people in many ways. Poverty may mean not being able to heat your home, pay your rent or feed your children. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation‘s article discusses the different impacts of poverty.  

There are also many ways to measure poverty.¹

This piece will explain three terms we use at Magic Breakfast and how they reflect the need for universal, nutritious and free breakfast for children:  

• Relative income poverty 
• Material deprivation
• Food insecurity  

1. Relative income poverty

This is the main statistic used to measure where people’s incomes sit in comparison to the rest of the UK population. When you hear news of the number of people in poverty, this is usually the statistic they’re referring to.

Each financial year, the Department for Work & Pensions reports on the average income across the United Kingdom and how many households are living in relative poverty.²

If a household’s income is less than 60% of the median (middle) household income of that year, they are experiencing relative poverty. Let’s say the median income was £30,000, someone would be living in relative poverty if their household income was £18,000 or less.

Statisticians adjust the household income based on the number of people in a home so that it reflects how far their money stretches. Find out more.³

What is the impact on children and young people?

People living in relative poverty might have to skip meals in order to pay other bills like rent. Or they might not be able to afford nutritious breakfasts for their children.

Rising food costs will also disproportionately impact lower income families because they must spend a higher proportion of their income on food. The Food Foundation’s Broken plate report revealed that households with children in the lowest fifth of income would need to spend 70% of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the Government’s recommended healthy diet. Whereas families in the richest fifth would have to spend just 12% of their disposable income.⁵

2. Material deprivation

Material deprivation is a poverty measure that goes beyond income. Instead, it looks at the lack of access to basic resources needed for a decent standard of living. It’s a rounded way of considering many different ways a child might be missing out on things which support their health and wellbeing.

The Department for Work and Pensions set out a list of 22 essential resources everyone needs for a decent standard of living. These range from having a damp free home to eating three meals a day. If four or more of these are absent for a household and child, they are living in material deprivation.⁶

What is the impact on children and young people?

• Missing out on school trips could stop a child learning more about the world and make them feel left out at school.
• A lack of food in the holidays could mean a child doesn’t get the nutrients they need to grow.
• Not eating three meals a day could mean a child comes to school too hungry to learn.

Sophie Balmer, Magic Breakfast board advisor, shared recently that when she was younger, she wouldn’t play football at lunch time because she was worried that if she broke her uniform or shoes her mum wouldn’t be able to replace it.

These are all examples of material deprivation and the impact it has on children in the UK.

3. Food insecurity

Living in food insecurity means not having consistent access to enough, safe, and nutritious food to meet nutritional needs for an active and healthy life. This could mean experiencing hunger or having reduced quality and variety of food choices.

To measure how many people are experiencing food insecurity, the Government and charities like the Food Foundation carry out large surveys. They ask households to answer a questionnaire about how they access food.⁸ Questions could include, ‘Have you had smaller meals than usual or skipped meals due to cost?’ or ‘Has your food run out before you have had enough money to buy more?’. Their answers are used to understand whether they are experiencing mild, moderate, or severe food insecurity.

What is the impact on children and young people?

A child experiencing food insecurity might often feel hungry or be anxious about the food situation at home. Both of these can affect their learning and ability to concentrate. Or, while they may be having some kind of breakfast, they might not have access to a nutritious choice. This is definitely possible since healthier foods on average cost twice as much per calorie as less healthy foods.¹⁰

That’s why we provide free, nutritious breakfasts, available to all students at our partner schools. Having a consistent and reliable breakfast can help children and young people start the day right and be ready to learn.

Putting it all together…

Using all three ways to measure poverty helps us to understand the challenges faced by many families in the UK and the profound impact it has on children’s ability to learn and thrive.

At Magic Breakfast, we know that a nutritious breakfast is the best start to the day for schoolchildren everywhere. The magic behind breakfast is so much bigger than the meal itself. It’s the chance for every child and young person to feel included, equal and set up for success.

If you know a school that could benefit from Magic Breakfast’s provision, please get in touch! Together, we can help ensure that no child or young person starts their day too hungry to learn.