Links Between School Absenteeism and Child Poverty

This article reports a study, undertaken in London Boroughs, which aimed to explore the link between school absenteeism and child poverty. The writer begins by exploring issues of definitions of child poverty and school absenteeism in the last fifty years. He then goes on to describe the design of this study and to report his findings. His conclusions are that school absenteeism is strongly associated with child poverty, with pupils at primary school being much more likely to be affected by an area's economics and employment deprivation than their counterparts at secondary schools. School absentees normally start the habit of non–attendance when they are at primary school, with child poverty as a main associated factor. Addressing family welfare issues early is seen as a key intervention.