Working collaboratively to tackle poverty and social exclusion

There is a long history in Britain of community-based welfare provisions which were designed to address the issue of poverty and its effects on children and their families by providing financial and social support. This tradition has endured and in contemporary British society, the state has taken a key role in facilitating this process, but the extent and design of this support have shifted according to social and political attitudes, which this chapter will seek to explore. Therefore, it will begin by exploring why we should be concerned about children and families experience of poverty and social exclusion, and how the experience of poverty impacts on the lives of children and their families in terms of opportunity and outcomes. It will then move on to consider the different ways in which this relationship has been contextualised and explained and the significance of these discussions. It will then examine the current policy and legislative context for tackling poverty and social exclusion with reference to key reforms. It will consider the implications of a renewed focus on Early Intervention and Early Help for early childhood settings. It will also examine the connections between explanations of poverty and political ideology/intentions and the implications for early childhood settings and practitioners. In addition to this, it will seek to position recent early childhood reforms in a broader welfare context and the impact on the early childhood sector.