Children, welfare and human rights

Child welfare policies are influenced on assumptions about the needs and rights of children, of parents, and the role of the state in these respects, the political economy of welfare and different

perceptions and ideologies of childhood which change over time (Ridge, 2008, 379). Social Policy concerns in English-speaking countries such as the UK, usually focus on children within the context of the relationship between family and state, and in Ireland, the relationship between family, church and state. Increasing attention to children’s rights reflects new sociological conceptions of childhood (Matthews, 2007), the acceptance that adults cause harm to children and the high levels of poverty, together with the reality of poverty, inequality and social exclusion experienced by many children.

Historically, children’s needs and interests have remained hidden within the private sphere of the family and so invisible in the policy process reflecting tensions arising in the relationship between state and family – the rights and responsibilities of parents for their children and the obligations of the state to provide services for children and intervene in risk situations (Ridge, 2008, 380).

Childcare policy in recent decades has expanded welfare state responsibility into early childhood, but childcare still remains a parental responsibility, even if this is socialised via publicly funded services, cash transfers, subsidies and parental leave entitlements.

Within this, children benefit from derived rights. Finland is the only EU member state where a child’s need for care has become the child’s individual right to be cared for by parents or in state-subsidised childcare services. In Sweden and Denmark, access to high-quality childcare services subsidised by the state is seen as a democratic right of the child and a supplement to parental upbringing (Daly, 2004).

Childcare has become a universal issue, but not necessarily a social right. The child’s right to early childhood education and care (including pre-school) is now widely accepted for children over 3 years old and along with parental leave, this represents a progression towards social rights of both parents and children. This has become important as lives get busier and faster and more women enter the labour market. Commuting distances have become longer and with more children in full-time childcare, the ability of families to spend quality time with their children is compromised (Kilkelly, 2007, 112).

Primary school children in Ireland are reported to feel ‘a pervasive anxiety’ about their lives in an out of the classroom with life outside

of school being felt as ‘increasingly insecure’ (Shifrin, 2008). At the same time, children have become more activist in issues that concern them (Cunningham & Lavalette, 2004) but this exists alongside an increasing tolerance towards children in trouble who are increasingly being subjected to repressive modes of governance and regulation (Goldson et al., 2004). The Third way discourse of

‘social investment’ puts children and community at the centre, with the focus on children, not in terms of their current well-being, but rather, what they will become – citizen-workers of the future, who like adults, are expected to ‘adapt’ to the enhancement of global competitiveness (Lister, 2005).

The policy portfolio for children in Ireland has increased substantially over recent years, the focus on children gathering pace following examination in 1998 by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the adoption of many of its recommendations.

The single most significant development was the publication of the National Children’s Strategy (National Children’s Office, 2005) which expresses commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which Ireland ratified without reservation. This indicated a significant leap forward in recognising children as people who have rights that must be respected.

The vision of children was stated as: ‘An Ireland where children are respected as young citizens with a valued contribution to make and a voice of their own; where all children are cherished and supported by family and the wider society; where they enjoy a fulfilling childhood and realise their potential’ (ibid., 23). Children are recognised as individual actors, a group with interests that need to be reflected in the public policy agenda and with the potential to have political rights (Daly, 2007, 9). The framework for policy and debate about child welfare in Ireland has revolved around issues of child protection and childcare (Curry, 2003, 168-7).

The updating and enactment of the Child Care Act 1991 was considered another milestone. However, child protection services have often proved to be a disempowering experience for children who have routinely experienced a violation of their rights and needs (Verhellen, 1999). A recent Ombudsman for Children (2006) report reflected this and pointed to a series of violations of the

UN Convention with regard to children in the care of the state, by family/community members, lack of access to services and delays in intervention, inadequate support, e.g. lack of psychological services, lack of respect for the voice of the child, lack of accountability and reluctance to intervene in family.

Another policy area concerns child poverty, which has held the attention of Government over the past ten years. However, major concerns exist in relation to child poverty, insufficient attention to income levels for poorer families, lack of consideration of the interplay between broad factors that influence the living standards of children, including family supports, employment and public services and reducing the extent of societal inequality (Daly, 2007).

Other concerns relate to service delivery at local level and institutional reform. The current level of services to children continues to gather high media attention: ‘From mental health services, to educational assistance, diabetes diagnoses to autism services, children in Ireland often have to wait for weeks, months, even years for help. For many, it comes too late to be of any benefit, if it comes at all’ (Buckley, 2008, 6).

In the European context, increasing levels of poverty and social inequality, poverty and social exclusion EU have become a major concern (Ruxton & Bennet, 2002; Frazer& Marlier, 2007). The primacy of social class in determining children’s experiences of childhood has been stressed by Lavalette & Cunningham (2004) and Ireland particularly exhibits strong class-based inequalities along with a resistance to challenge inequalities of reward, power and prestige, with social policy playing a large part in reproducing social class inequalities (Baker et al., 2004).

Class stratification may operate in different ways in different country contexts, but as Novak (2004, 59) notes, social class inequalities are hardly recognised when it comes to children. Ireland scores badly in comparative terms in relation to children’s material wellbeing. In the Unicef (2007) report on child well-being in 25 rich countries, Ireland are ranked 3^rd bottom on material well-being, measured in relation to three components: relative income poverty, children in households without employed adult and direct measures of deprivation (Unicef, 2007).

Ireland also occupied a similar position in relation to health and safety, measured by infant health, preventive health services and child safety. The Nordic countries fared best in terms of child poverty and equality of life chances. High scoring countries were those considered to have the strongest welfare states. For children in the lower socio-economic classes, the experience of poverty in Ireland has been a question of measurement. However, child poverty impacts on the relational aspects of their lives – lack of voice, disrespect, humiliation and an attack on dignity and self esteem (Lister, 2006, 7).

Such practices are located in the everyday interactions with wider society and have psychosocial impact. Also, extra-familial relations based on the logic of exchange and reciprocal support are reduced, the consequences of which is a withdrawal from social contact (Böhnke, 2008). Children are aware that parents are under stress through lack of money and learn to hide their needs and wishes from them (ibid.) and parents are more than aware of the impact and effects of poverty on children’s lives (Corbett & Kerris, 2004).

Notwithstanding, children have continued to gain special place in a host of subsequent Irish policy documents. For example, The Agenda for Children’s Services (Office of the Minister for Children/

Department of Health and Children, 2007) sets out an agenda for a ‘whole child’, ‘whole system’ approach to promoting ‘better outcomes’

for within ‘concentric spheres of responsibility’, i.e. the immediate family, wider family and friends, informal support of community, formal services.

The subsidiarity principle is to be followed within the new welfare blueprint perspective (NESC, 2005) that sees the goal of state provision as the development of capacity within individuals, families, communities and the economy. Concerns here relate the weak progress being made towards the long promised regulatory and funding framework of the voluntary and community sector, privatisation, and reliance on market provision for childcare.

4. Rights as a mechanism for strengthening social