Poster #16 - Centering Children’s Voices: Rethinking How We Study Child Poverty

• In Event: Saturday Poster Luncheon

Abstract

Despite decades of research and intervention, child poverty remains a persistent and complex issue. A major barrier to progress lies in the disconnect between how researchers conceptualize poverty and how children actually experience it. Current measures rely heavily on adult-centric indicators such as household income or parental education, often failing to reflect the lived realities of children. This paper argues for a fundamental shift toward participatory, child-centered research methods that recognize children as active contributors to knowledge production. Drawing on global evidence, it demonstrates that children understand and describe poverty in multidimensional ways, including material conditions, social relationships, emotional well-being, and perceived opportunity. Participatory approaches such as photovoice, child-led interviews, and social mapping not only yield richer data but also empower children and communities. I outline the ethical and institutional challenges of implementing such methods and offer strategies for integrating them into both research and policy. By centering children's voices, we can develop more accurate poverty measures and design more effective, equitable interventions. The time has come to reimagine our approach to child poverty by moving from studying children to studying with them.

Author

• Abbie Elizabeth Klein, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Presenting Author