Children unhappy without material goods

Forget the penny sweets and a peashooter. It seems today’s children feel they’re “materially deprived” if they don’t have an iPod, the latest branded trainers and a family car.

In the latest sign that 21st century consumerism is impacting our kids, a study by The Children’s Society found youngsters rely on material goods to make them fit in and feel ‘normal’.

Children aged between eight and 15 were quizzed about the ‘essentials’ of life for someone their age.

A list of the ten ‘must-have’ possessions was then drawn up – including iPod, pocket money, family holidays, a satellite TV, garden and “the right kind of clothes”.

After surveying 5,500 boys and girls, researchers found that those children lacking two or more of the items were “significantly more likely to be unhappy” than those given everything they wanted.

And those without five or more of the ‘must-haves’ were five times more likely to have “low levels of wellbeing”.

It is the first time children themselves have been polled about what they see as deprivation.

Despite their apparent obsession with material goods, however, The Children’s Society says the survey shows children value family togetherness during days out and holidays, and that their happiness is as much tied up in these events as it is in trendy possessions.

The charity’s chief executive Bob Reitemeier said: “Too often we try to understand what it means to be poor from the perspective of parents and ignore the children. For the first time, this research asks children themselves what they need to live a normal kind of life.

“It shows that many children are missing out on normal, everyday things, like pocket money, or trips out with their family. Children have shown us they have a clear idea of what makes them happy, and those missing out on these items are much unhappier than their peers.”

The items most needed for children not to feel deprived were, in order:

• Some money you can save each month
• A garden at home or outdoor space nearby
• At least one family holiday away from home each year
• A personal music player
• Monthly trips or days out with the family
• A pair of designer or brand name trainers
• The right kind of clothes to fit in
• A family car
• Cable or satellite TV at home

Pocket money was the item the children were most likely to be missing out on, with more than a third (37 per cent) saying they did not receive it and 22 per cent saying they missed having it.

This was followed by family trips or days out, with 25 per cent saying they did not have any and 18 per cent saying they missed them. Children similarly felt the lack of ‘some money to save each month’, with 18 per cent saying they had none but would like some.

An iPod and a family holiday each year were the next two things children felt the lack of most sorely.

A spokesman for The Children’s Society added: “It is not all materialistic. There is lots of stuff about wanting to spend time with their family and playing.” He said only one ‘possession’, a personal music player, appeared in the top five items children were found to be missing out on.

The charity said the research showed traditional measures of poverty, such as household income, the number of adults in paid work and receipt of free school meals, might not be the only predictor of children’s unhappiness but that their own sense of wellbeing and material deprivation ought to be considered.

The study, undertaken with the University of York, also shows that ‘materially deprived’ children might not necessarily be living in households conventionally classified as poor – meaning political measures designed to address child poverty could be missing a large tranche of society.

This article was published on Tue 8 November 2011