(Withdrawn) Examining Multidimensional Child Deprivation in the United States: Using the Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis

Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the needs and experiences of deprived children in various dimensions of quality of life in the U.S. Despite the growing importance of the multidimensional approach, few studies in the U.S. have applied a child’s rights-based approach into the analysis of child deprivation. A child’s right-based approach aims to realize of children’s rights by eliminating or reducing child deprivation. From this approach, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as a unique treaty on the protection of the child’s rights, includes general principles, states’ appropriate measures and responsibility for international cooperation by each article (Santos-Pais, 1999). Thus, this study examines multidimensional child deprivation using eight dimensions and eleven indicators based on the CRC.

Methods: Using a sample of children at age nine from the fifth wave of the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, this study applied the multiple overlapping deprivation analysis (MODA), a comprehensive analytic method to assess the multidimensionality of child deprivation, to provide a detailed picture of material and social forms of deprivation among the U.S. children. Based on the CRC, eight dimensions of child deprivation were selected: 1) nutrition, 2) healthcare, 3) housing, 4) environmental safety, 5) education, 6) leisure, 7) protection from violence, and 8) information. In addition, building on previous studies, this study included eleven indicators: 1) fruit/vegetable regular eating, 2) regular check-ups for medical/dental conditions, 3) health insurance, 4) housing conditions, 5) quality of immediate environment outside the home, 6) school connectedness, 7) activity (outdoor, watching TV/video, reading books), 8) parental violence, 9) peer violence, 10) neighborhood violence, and 11) having access to media. The MODA method is conducted in three steps: 1) finding adjusted headcount ratio (i.e., overall deprivation level) by creating two indices such as deprivation headcount ratio and average intensity of deprivation and multiplying them, 2) assessing the individual contribution of each dimension to the overall deprivation level by decomposing the adjusted headcount ratio, and 3) finding a proportion of children who are at higher risk of poverty by identifying an overlap between deprivation and income poverty.

Results: This study found that the overall child deprivation rate was 8.14%; information (23.59%), environmental safety (18.06%), and healthcare (13.13%) dimensions contributed the highest to the overall child deprivation; the overlap between non-monetary deprivation and monetary poverty was 9.8%. In addition, results indicate an area of non-monetary deprivation (9.56%) that does not overlap with monetary poverty.

Conclusions/Implications: Results suggest that understanding multiple and interrelated contexts of child deprivation is crucial to promote child rights. This study offers a detailed picture of multidimensional child deprivation, in particular, the extent to which children at risk are not captured by traditional income-based measures. Thus, this study suggest that policymakers and social welfare professionals should consider more integrated policy strategies to reduce child poverty.