This volume brings together a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives on conceptualization, measurement, multidimensional impacts, and policy and service responses to address child and family poverty. It goes beyond quantitative approaches and documents poverty outcomes through a social lens and mixed methods, drawing on longitudinal life course research, stakeholder research, and qualitative methods in developed and developing countries. The volume discusses issues and trends through country-level chapters to shed light on the dynamics of poverty in different sectors of society. 

The chapters canvass key debates and discuss the relationships between child poverty and children’s rights, and child poverty and children’s subjective  wellbeing. They also cover the impacts of poverty on specific domains of children’s and families’ experiences. The impacts discussed include issues and life stages as well as minority groups. Importantly, the chapters also focus on programs, policies and interventions to address poverty and its impacts, showcasing specific interventions, programs and policies aimed at responding to children, families, and communities. The cross-national case studies and evaluations analyzed here illustrate the diversity of approaches and outcomes.

This completely revised edition updates the discussions of the first one and adds new content relating to more country cases, especially from the Global South, and new issues like digital rights. This volume is a key read in the fields of child rights and poverty research.   

Elizabeth Fernandez, AM PhD MA, is Professor of Social Work, School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia. Her research and teaching interests at UNSW focus on vulnerable and marginalized families and children touched by the child welfare system and includes themes of child and family poverty, child maltreatment, and pathways and outcomes of children in care and post care. Her research interests target the intersection of poverty, parenting and child wellbeing drawing on the voices of consumers and providers to identify the impact of social adversities and service responses to children and families. Her books include the Routledge International Handbook of Child and Family Social Work Research: Knowledge-Building, Application, and Impact (Fernandez et al., 2024); Child Protection and the Care Continuum (Fernandez and Delfabbro 2021). She serves on the Executive Boards of the International Society for Child Indicators Research (ISCI) and the International Association for Evaluation and Outcome Research into Child and Family Services (IAOBERfcs). She is Co Editor in Chief of Children and Youth Services Review and serves on the editorial boards of Children Australia, and Child and Family Social Work. She serves on the National Advisory Committee for the evaluation of family and relationship services (FaRS) and Specialised Family Violence Services (SFVS) (2026). She was awarded the 2019 ISCI Award for Outstanding Contribution to the field of Child Indicators Research from an International Perspective. In 2023 she was appointed AM Member of the Order of Australia for Service to Teaching, Research, Social Justice and Associations.  In 2024 she received the Lifetime Contribution to Learning Award, Association of Child Welfare Agencies (ACWA) Award.

Anat Zeira, PhD, is Professor at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She also served as head of research and evaluation at the Haruv Institute (2012-2022) and was a member of the National Council of Social Work at the Israeli Ministry of Welfare (2003-2011) where she chaired its Committee for Institutes and Degrees (2017-2021). She is a founding member of the Italy-based International Association of Outcome-Based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children’s Services (iaOBERfcs) and a board member of the Israeli section of FICE  (International Federation of Educative Communities). She has been long committed to research on the evidence base of social work practice with children at-risk and their families. In this context, she conducted several collaborative research projects with the Department of Social Services in the Jerusalem Municipality. Her current research focuses on the transition to adulthood and outcomes of care leavers. She has published widely in professional journals and presented numerous papers at international conferences. Through her studies and 

publications, she emphasizes the importance of systematic monitoring and evaluation of practice by practitioners and its dissemination in the field. 

Tiziano Vecchiato is President of the Fondazione Zancan, an Italian Research Center, which he directed for 30 years. He served as Advisor to the Ministry for Family Policy, and as President of the First Section of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità (Italian Higher Health Council). He chaired the National Working Group on the "Progetto Obiettivo Anziani" (National Target Project for the Elderly). He sat on the Working Group on the National Health Plan and on Health and Social Care Integration. He is Scientific Coordinator of PersonaLAB (Personalised Environment for Research on Services, Outcomes and Need Assessment), a multicentre laboratory on outcome evaluation. He is a board member of EUSARF (European Scientific Association), founder (with Prof. Anthony Maluccio) and Member of “iaOBERfcs” (International Association for Outcome-based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children's Services, constituted in 2003). He edits the journal Studi Zancan - Policies and Services for People and he is the Scientific director of the series “Welfare Systems” (publisher Il Mulino, Bologna) and author of about 700 publications on welfare, outcome evaluation, approaches to qualify human services.
 
Cinzia Canali holds a Degree in Statistics, University of Padua. Since 2018 she is directing the Fondazione Zancan, an Italian Research Center, founded in 1964 and based in Padua, Italy (www.fondazionezancan.it). She is involved in projects related to evaluative research and evaluation of services, with particular attention to children and families’ services. These projects are implemented in collaboration with local municipalities, regions and different Ministries. She coordinates PersonaLab, a multicentre research programme involving Italian and foreign partners in evaluating the effectiveness of care processes at local, regional and national level. She is collaborating to the Series “Welfare Systems” in which the national report on poverty and social exclusion is published (last edition: 2025, publisher: Il Mulino, Bologna) and to the bi-monthly journal “Studi Zancan”. At international level she is Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal “Children and Youth Services Review” (CYSR). She is one of the founding members and current President of the International Association for Outcome-based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children’s Services (www.iaober.org).