Bekämpande av barnfattigdom : hur fyra aktörer i det civila samhället i Uppsala kommun uppfattar och hanterar barnfattigdom

Sammanfattning: ABSTRACT Poverty, and in particular child poverty, is a serious social problem. Statistics show that the number of children living in poverty has increased over the last ten years. Earlier research shows that there are huge gaps in our knowledge of how the actors in civil society handle child poverty. With this study we hope to help fill this gap. The aim of our study is to look at how four different organisations working in the civil society in Uppsala perceive and handle child poverty. We have chosen to conduct an empirical study of fieldwork interviews. Our informants were selected from organisations in the municipality of Uppsala that were known to us as working with children's needs.   The results show that our informants consider child poverty an overly narrow and one-sided concept and rather see child poverty as a multifaceted social phenomenon. They view poverty as not only a matter of lack of economic resources but also as other welfare deficits – a view which agrees with previous research (Bitterman and Franzén 2008:243). All our informants express and, to a great extent, practice a children's rights perspective (Archard 2009). They construct children as citizens and bearers of rights, with the idea that adults have a common responsibility to supply for children’s needs of care and participation. None of the four organisations have a family poverty approach to the children. Instead they view children as unique individuals with their own needs beyond the family. The selection process is based on trust. There is no means test or strict investigation though the concept of need is an important criterion. All our informants’ organisations position themselves as something other than social services. They see their role as a complement to social services and public welfare. None of our informants express any desire to replace it.   Key Words: child poverty, economic vulnerability, civil society, voluntary work, child rights perspective.