A master thesis from Aalborg University
Det sociale arbejde med og mod børnefattigdom - civilsamfundsorganisationernes rolle overfor en foranderlig velfærdsstat
[Social work on and against childhood poverty - the role of civil society organisations in regard to a changing welfare state]
Forfatter(e)
Semester
4. semester
Uddannelse
Udgivelsesår
2021
Afleveret
2021-06-14
Antal sider
68 pages
Abstract
This master’s thesis examines the role of Danish civil society organisations and their increasing social work on and against child poverty, also including the NGO’s interplay with the public authorities and the Danish welfare state in general. Based on interviews with Danish NGOs working with disadvantaged families, the thesis investigates how Danish civil society is experiencing an increased demand for social programs, especially financial help for families. Statistics on child poverty in Denmark are reflecting these experiences from within Danish civil society, describing a rise in child poverty during the past years. A Danish think tank, the Economic Council of the Labour Movement, claims that this rise in child poverty is to be considered a consequence of reductions in social benefits and other changes within the criteria for the recipients in the Danish unemployment system conducted in 2015. These changes meant that citizens receiving the Danish cash benefit (kontanthjælp) or the integration benefit (integrationsydelse) had to meet new and more criteria if their benefit was not to be reduced. A lot of citizens experienced cuts in their benefits, also including several citizens with a migrant background. These cuts affected many families and therefore also affected many children and their opportunities in life. The NGOs experience children bringing empty lunch boxes to school, children not having the opportunity of going to their classmates’ birthday parties, and parents unable to afford Christmas presents to their children. It is this stigmatization and social exclusion caused by the families’ financial disadvantages that the civil society is trying both to combat and to mitigate. The study shows that Danish civil society is stepping in where the Danish public welfare system is failing, or more directly put, where the Danish welfare state in fact is creating child poverty and negative long-term effects through its lowering of benefits. This represents a paradox because one could think it was a core task for a welfare state to fight child poverty. The thesis includes a theoretically focused analysis of the universal welfare state to see if it is under pressure due to the benefit reductions and new criteria already mentioned, or if there is a new approach from the Danish welfare state towards its own citizens also affecting the field of social work. Also, the thesis examines the power relations between the public social worker, the citizen, and the social worker from the NGO to analyse the advantages of social work in a non-governmental context and how it could benefit children living in poverty.
Emneord
Kolofon: Denne side er en del af AAU Studenterprojekter — Aalborg Universitets studenterprojektportal. Her kan du finde og downloade offentligt tilgængelige kandidatspecialer og masterprojekter fra hele universitetet fra 2008 og frem. Studenterprojekter fra før 2008 kan findes i trykt form på Aalborg Universitetsbibliotek.
Har du spørgsmål til AAU Studenterprojekter eller Aalborg Universitets forskningsregistrering, formidling og analyse, er du altid velkommen til at kontakte VBN-teamet. Du kan også læse mere i AAU Studenterprojekter FAQ.