Child poverty, education and children’s rights : An analysis of the UK ‘Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals’

Rhatigan, Clare and Houghton, Ann-Marie (2026) Child poverty, education and children’s rights : An analysis of the UK ‘Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals’. PhD thesis, Security Lancaster.

Text (2026RhatiganPhD)
2026RhatiganPhD.pdf - Published Version
Download (1MB)

Abstract

This thesis is a document analysis of the United Kingdom’s ‘Voluntary National Review of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals’ (UKVNR, 2019) (SDGs) regarding Poverty SDG-1, Education SDG-4, child poverty and children’s rights. My focus is on three aspects of the UKVNR: first, early years provision; secondly, the attainment gap; thirdly, access to nutritious food and its impact on children’s education. I consider the similarities and differences relating to the framing of poverty, and whether the UK government and the governments of the Devolved Administrations, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, recognise children’s rights as underpinning the 2030 Agenda (UNGA, 2015). Drawing on both the capability approach and human rights, I consider the extent to which the UKVNR recognises poverty’s impact on children’s lives and their access to and participation in education. I undertake document analysis of the UKVNR (2019), using a reflexive thematic approach (Braun and Clarke, 2006, 2022) to question whether the UKVNR reflects the multidimensional nature of poverty and explore the visibility of children, and poverty’s impact on their education and rights. My thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge, by focusing on child poverty SDG-1, education SDG-4 and rights in the UK with respect to the UKVNR and supplementary reports from Scotland and Wales that has not previously been undertaken. My research shows that across the Four Nations, issues of social inequality had worsened, that this manifested itself with respect to early years’ provision, the attainment gap and access to nutritious food. I argue that child poverty is not being comprehensively addressed and, consequently, the connected social injustices impact on children’s education and children not achieving their full capabilities. My research also identifies the differing approaches to framing poverty in the UKVNR and by the Devolved Administrations. I argue that the UKVNR has a limited framing of poverty by failing to recognise that Poverty SDG-1, deals with the multidimensional nature of poverty, which in turn impacts on Education SDG-4, and the full implementation of children’s rights. Poverty reduction is seen as an individual responsibility addressed through welfare reform and full employment. However, a more nuanced, broader multidimensional framing of poverty is offered by Scotland and Wales, with a recognition that poverty impacts on children’s education and is a rights based issue that places obligations on government to uphold children’s rights. Based on my analysis, I highlight the UK government’s lack of commitment in the UKVNR to children’s rights and offer recommendations relating to tackling the impact of poverty on children’s education.