A Phenomenological Model of Child Poverty: A Research on the State-Subsidized Children in Istanbul

Abstract

Although the static dimension of child poverty, which corresponds to deprivations experienced in daily life, is a field of interest in both research and policy, study of the dynamic dimension of child poverty, which corresponds to children’s reactions, is mostly neglected in Turkey. Based on this deficiency, this study focuses on poor child types in relation to the findings obtained as a consequence of the phenomenological investigation of children’s coping strategies with poverty in daily life. The findings rely on field research, which was conducted with children between the ages of 11 and 15 living in the poor regions of Istanbul and state-subsidized ones. The differences among poor children were divided into four different child types: Rescuer child, substituting child, foundation-integrated child, and protectionist child. This typology, which is the outcome of the phenomenological approach, was expressed as the phenomenological model of child poverty. This model has brought both the heterogeneous quality of child poverty and structural and cultural factors neglected in coping strategies into the forefront. Besides, the agency possibilities of poor children in certain contexts are revealed by means of this model.

Keywords

• Child poverty
• Coping strategies
• Poor child types
• Phenomenology
• State-subsidized children

Supporting Institution

The author received no grant support for this work.

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