Why education is key for breaking the cycle of child poverty

When mechanical engineering university student, James, 21, crossed the half marathon finish line in first place when he was 19, few onlookers would have suspected that he’d had a humble start to his running career, racing school cross country in leather shoes because he didn’t own a pair of sneakers.

Mechanical engineering university student, James, 21.Credit: The Smith Family

It was only later that James was able to recognise that poverty had had a pivotal impact not just on his development as a runner, but also his education.

In his early high school years, James worked hard at school but couldn’t crack anything beyond a C grade. “I didn’t have a study area at home – the ceiling in my bedroom had collapsed so I was sleeping on the floor in the living room for most of the time,” he says.

“There’s a lot of students who are extremely talented but simply limited to what they can do because you can’t really do something with nothing.”

Creating educational opportunities for students like James is important, and not just for the children involved – but for society as a whole.

Why child poverty holds children back at school

It’s a sobering statistic to read that 20 per cent of Australian children go to school hungry at least once a week, but nutrition is only the beginning of the challenges that poverty presents.

“There’s a lot of pressure on students from low-income backgrounds – even at the age of four or five when they’re just starting school, they’re already much more vulnerable to all kinds of disadvantage than other students,” says Professor Gerry Redmond, Flinders University sociologist and social policy analyst, who has spent 20 years researching marginalisation as experienced by young people.

“They’re not getting the full education they deserve and could reach if they were properly supported, and they’re not going to reach their full potential for social cohesion and fully contribute to national productivity.”

NAPLAN data reveals that around a third of students from disadvantaged backgrounds are behind the minimum standards in literacy and numeracy, and a quarter of school students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds need additional support in meeting those standards.

Andy Mison, president of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, says we’re seeing increasing concentrations of disadvantage in Australia, which is having a detrimental impact on disadvantaged students’ education and exposure to opportunity.

“The numbers of kids who are in schools where more than 50 per cent of that school’s population come from the lowest socioeconomic background is growing,” he says.

Professor Redmond says students growing up with poverty also face more pressure at home, which can adversely affect their education.

“Parents may be unable to provide the kind of support that schools demand of parents to help with homework and the like,” he says.

Mison says we need to keep students engaged at school because a good education offers life skills that go beyond the classroom.

Andy Mison, president of the Australian Secondary Principals Association.Credit: The Smith Family

“Attending school is really important to get self-esteem, engagement skills and social skills – all those things that are important for life,” Mison says.

“Education provides the opportunity to do things like play team sport or do public speaking or play in a band or join a Dungeons and Dragons club. These things are so important because they create a sense of belonging, which helps people’s wellbeing, something particularly important when times are rough.”

What needs to be done

With 80 per cent of disadvantaged students attending public schools, Mison says funding for those schools must be a priority.

“Australia’s a very wealthy country by any measure and most of our kids are doing pretty well comparatively in [tests like] NAPLAN,” he says.

“But what we are seeing is that where there are high concentrations of disadvantaged kids and families, those communities are falling further behind.”

Professor Redmond wants to see a fairer resource allocation between government and non-government schools.

“Even within the public school system, schools in privileged areas tend to have more resources because parents can put in, and students are less likely to be disadvantaged in other ways, such as with respect to disability,” he says.

Education efforts need to start early, with recent Grattan Institute research showing children who start school behind are, on average, four years behind in maths and more than five years behind in reading by the time they reach Year 9.

For James, a Learning for Life sponsorship from The Smith Family that provides financial support for school essentials like uniforms, books and excursions, as well as access to learning and mentoring programs, proved a game-changer, helping him transition from that C grade student to be dux of his school.

“Knowing that someone I didn’t even know was putting their time and money into me, I felt really motivated and almost obligated to take advantage of the opportunities,” he says.

“I was able to get a laptop in Year 10 and now I’m getting assistance with textbooks at university. I could also see it meant my mum was less stressed as well – she wasn’t sighing as much.”

He’s now halfway through a mechanical engineering degree and working towards a 100km run next year.

“I started hearing about all of these jobs that studying could lead to – fancy words that I had never heard before. Once you start getting an understanding of the opportunity you actually have, it’s a way to break that [poverty] cycle,” he says.

“When I was five years old, I wanted to find a job where I would be able to make anything, so if my mum didn’t have it, I could give it to her. Now I’m able to do electrical work and there’s so much I’m able to fix at home, which is saving thousands of dollars.”

By sponsoring a child with The Smith Family, you can help provide the financial, practical and emotional support to help them make the most of their education and break the cycle of poverty.