This online course will be delivered by world-leading poverty research experts in Africa, Europe, North and South America. It will include recent cutting-edge research in quantitative and qualitative methods in child poverty and inequalities research, as well as research on practice issues – specifically the use of research findings in policy and practice.

Upon completing the course, participants will have the knowledge and skills required to undertake poverty and inequality research and know how to develop a comprehensive and effective research programme to achieve maximum impact. The course sessions include advanced child poverty research methods, measuring inequalities, data availability and new approaches to analysis and policy and practice development.

This intensive course has been developed by a partnership between ACEIR; University of Bristol; University of Birmingham; Cardiff University; University of Oxford; University of Cape Town; Gothenburg University; Save the Children; The New School, New York; UNICEF; Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM); and Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

It has been funded by the Grand Union, Midlands, Southwest and Welsh Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs). It is aimed at PhD students, postdocs and academic staff who are interested in poverty and inequality related research.
 

The course is free and you need to apply.

Programme 

Week 1

Thursday, 15 October: Understanding Child Poverty

  • Measuring Poverty Without Confusion: Separating Resources, Causes, and Consequences (Professor Bjorn Hallerod)
  • Understanding Children's Experience of Poverty – Why it is relevant and necessary to include the voices of those experiencing poverty, especially children. (Dr Gwyther Rees)
  • Inequality and Child Poverty – Why and how both are related, and why policies must consider both. (Jan Vandemoortele)

Friday, 16 October: Concepts of Child Poverty

  • A History of Child Poverty – concepts, debates and controversies. (Professor David Gordon) 
  • Quality of Life and Child Poverty – How these concepts are related. Is quality of life a more inclusive concept? (Professor Graciela Tonon)
  • Participation and agency of children living in poverty (Dr Camilla Morelli)

WEEK 2

Thursday, 22 October: Measuring Child Poverty

  • Basic needs, relative deprivation, capability deprivation, human rights and child poverty measurement (Professor David Gordon)
  • Child poverty, deprivation and the consensual method (Professor Shailen Nandy)
  • Poverty trends in Europe: Why Child Poverty Persists Despite Economic Recovery and Declining Inequality (Dr Alba Lanau)
  • Using MICS to measure child poverty and inequalities (Andrea Rossi)

Friday, 23 October: Data Analysis in R Practical Session

  • Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): causal analysis when you do not have a large enough sample to use statistical methods (Dr Mary Zhang, University)
  • How to calculate validity (Dr Marco Pomati)
  • How to calculate reliability (Dr Hector Najera)

WEEK 3

Thursday, 29 October: Analysing Child Poverty

  • Next Steps in Analysing Child Poverty – What happens to children who remain in poverty for long periods versus those who leave poverty. (Enrique Delamonica & Alberto Minujin)
  • Child Poverty in Humanitarian Contexts – Analysing the situation of refugees in Uganda. (Dr Ibrahim Kasirye)
  • Time-Resourcefulness of Children – How lack of time affects children living in poverty and what can be done (Professor Ayfer Dost and Dr Yasemine Kisbu)

Friday, 30 October: Experiencing Child Poverty Contexts

  • Adolescents' Aspirations and Social Change – The spiral of social change and how adolescents experiencing poverty can be empowered. (Dr Cornelia Sunway)
  • Youth at the Crossroads – The challenges of unemployment, occupational instability, and early entry into the labour market. Possible solutions, including pre-market investments in education and skills to improve employment prospects (Professor Luis Beccaria)
  • Multiple malnutrition, food poverty and Insecurity (Professor Shailen Nandy)

WEEK 4

Thursday, 5 November: Institutions and Child Poverty

  • Violence and Child Poverty – How family violence and punishment affect children living in poverty, and is there any relationship? (Dr Claudia Cappa)
  • Family, Poverty, Institutions, and Social Change – The lack of a holistic family-centred vision in large mental health institutions and why it matters. (Dr Verónica Barenstein)

Friday, 6 November: Inequality and Child Poverty in Africa

  • Inequalities in Africa. (Professor Murray Leibbrandt)
  • Child poverty in sub-Saharan Africa: the effects of the long-term institutional legacy of colonialism (Dr Cynthia Fonta)
  • Social Interventions and Pathways out of Poverty for Children and Adolescents (Dr William Rudgard)

WEEK 5

Thursday, 12 November: Ending Child Poverty

  • Monitoring child poverty and the Child Guarantee in the EU (Dr Anne Catherine Guio)
  • Public Budget and Pro-Poor Expenditure – How public expenditure is used for child poverty reduction policies (Dr Oliver Fiala)
  • How to End Child Poverty? A Policy Agenda (Solrun Engilbertsdottir)