Abstract
There is increasing evidence of unequal access to resources within the household between children and adults. The literature suggests that patterns of intra-household inequality are context specific: while some find that households prioritise children (Main and Bradshaw 2016), others find that children are more likely to experience the consequences of poverty (Brown et al. 2018a). In Tonga, the high value of children, role of women in decision making and low extreme poverty rates suggest that households will prioritise children. However, the data does not match this expectation. Where possible households share resources equally. In contexts of low resources, both adults and children may be prioritised. This article builds on the methodology developed by Main and Bradshaw to provide the first analysis of intra-household inequalities between children and adults in the South Pacific. It argues that deprivation patterns are shaped both by household decisions on resource allocation and by wider access to resources. The approach used can be applied in other contexts to explore deprivation patterns and inform anti-poverty strategies. The article contributes to the growing literature on intra-household inequalities between children and adults.
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Notes
Since its development in the UK in the 1980s, the consensual approach (Mack and Lansley 1985) has been used for the analysis of poverty and deprivation worldwide (e.g. Halleröd 1994; Noble et al. 2004; Abe and Pantazis 2013; Nandy and Pomati 2015; Depio et al. 2018; Fifita et al. 2018) including Tonga and Tuvalu in the South Pacific.
Access to other resources, such as welfare provision (including services in kind such as education and health), and more widely resource availability (e.g. in the private market) shape household’s experiences of poverty and deprivation (Paulus et al. 2010; Guio et al. 2017) and are likely to affect the intra-household allocation of resources.
For each item they lack, respondents are asked whether they lack the item because they cannot afford it, they do not want it or for another reason. Only individuals and households who lack an item because they cannot afford it are categorised as deprived for that item.
Adults living in households with children have very similar deprivation rates to all adults.
The average adjusted income per capita for these groups is around 850–900 Pa′anga with large and overlapping confidence intervals.
All child items in the survey are included regardless of whether they are in the MDI as all were identified by the pubic as items no-one should do without.
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We thank the Economic and Social Research Council for their funding through the Global Challenges initiative.
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Lanau, A., Fifita, V. Do Households Prioritise Children? Intra-Household Deprivation a Case Study of the South Pacific. Child Ind Res 13, 1953–1973 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-020-09729-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-020-09729-5