Disabled children & young people who live in poverty are being denied their basic rights, says a new report from the office of the children’s commissioner. The report explains that the government has a direct responsibility to tackle poverty: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly states that, where families or children cannot support themselves, the State will ensure they have an adequate standard of living (Article 27). Four in ten disabled children live in poverty and the impact of welfare, tax and public service reform has fallen disproportionately on them. Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner for England, says that the fact that child poverty still exists is “a national shame” and calls upon the government to take urgent action to ensure disabled children’s rights do not continue to be violated in this way.
The research examined how poverty impacts on disabled children’s rights as these are set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. These documents state that disabled children have the right to the basic things they need for living, such as: the right to adequate food, clothes and heating; the right to support to live independently; and the right to help make decisions about where they live. On all these issues, the research found disturbing evidence that, for some disabled children & young people living in poverty, these rights are being violated. Some disabled children, young people and their parents are not able to heat their homes properly or to afford adequate clothing and/or food. Some were not informed or involved in decisions about changes to where they lived; some experienced delays in adaptations being made to their homes and some did not have enough space nor support for independent living.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including that the government should urgently review the support available to families with disabled children and make sure that disabled children’s views are heard when planning changes that affect them. The report also recommends that the government should publish clear information about disabled children’s rights and services available for them, and should ensure that disabled children’s rights are better understood by people working in local and central government.
The research was carried out by a team at the University of Central Lancashire who worked with a steering group of eleven disabled children & young people who led the research. They held interviews with 78 disabled children & young people, and with 17 parents, to understand the experiences of disabled children & young people living in poverty.
The government has dismissed the report, claiming it was based on too small a sample; in response, the Children’s Commissioner has challenged them to speak to the young people involved in the study before doubting the truthfulness of the findings.
