Search

Poverty and poverty reduction in mainland China are the main concerns of development discourse and policy. Among poor individuals, children are the most vulnerable. This study aimed to investigate how multidimensional child poverty influenced children's academic achievement in poor rural areas in China. This study examined how this effect might be mediated by the stock of social relationships. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey of 775 children (grades 4 to 9) living in the most underdeveloped rural areas in southwest China (Eryuan County). Results showed that multidimensional child poverty was negatively related to children's academic achievement. Social relationships played a significant role in mediating the effects of multidimensional child poverty on children's academic achievement. These findings provided valuable insights into the multidimensions of poverty and the underlying mechanisms from poverty to children's academic achievement. Implications in theory, social work practice, and social policy were discussed. Social work intervention and prevention were also developed in terms of fostering the growth of social relationships. • Poverty and poverty reduction in mainland China are currently the central concerns of development discourse and policy. • Multidimensional child poverty was negatively related to children's academic achievement. • Social relationships significantly mediated the effects of multidimensional child poverty on children's academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Employing resilience framework to examine the poverty effect under multisystems. • Constructing Multidimensional Poverty Index to measure household poverty. • Identifying promotive factors in mitigating poverty risk posed on child development. By employing the resilience framework, this study investigates how poverty would impact children's educational and behavioral performance in China. Considering the nested structure of the data, we employed multilevel structural equation modeling. The results suggest that, at the household level, personal agency and family resources completely mediate the effect of poverty on educational performance while partially mediating its effect on behavioral performance. At the community level, the two mediators partially mediate both educational and behavioral performance. Taking both mediators into account, poverty has a negative effect on cognitive ability at the community level, but positive impacts on behavioral performance at both the household and community levels. This study offers a new lens for social service practitioners who seek to promote poverty resilience among poor children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]