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Mental health is inextricably linked to both poverty and future life chances such as education, skills, labour market attachment and social function. Poverty can lead to poorer mental health, which reduces opportunities and increases the risk of lifetime poverty. Cash transfer programmes are one of the most common strategies to reduce poverty and now reach substantial proportions of populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Because of their rapid expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently gained even more importance. Recently, there have been suggestions that these cash transfers might improve youth mental health, disrupting the cycle of disadvantage at a critical period of life. Here, we present a conceptual framework describing potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people. Furthermore, we explore how theories from behavioural economics and cognitive psychology could be used to more specifically target these mechanisms and optimise the impact of cash transfers on youth mental health and life chances. Based on this, we identify several lines of enquiry and action for future research and policy.

Mental health is inextricably linked to both poverty and future life chances such as education, skills, labour market attachment and social function. Poverty can lead to poorer mental health, which reduces opportunities and increases the risk of lifetime poverty. Cash transfer programmes are one of the most common strategies to reduce poverty and now reach substantial proportions of populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Because of their rapid expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently gained even more importance. Recently, there have been suggestions that these cash transfers might improve youth mental health, disrupting the cycle of disadvantage at a critical period of life. Here, we present a conceptual framework describing potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people. Furthermore, we explore how theories from behavioural economics and cognitive psychology could be used to more specifically target these mechanisms and optimise the impact of cash transfers on youth mental health and life chances. Based on this, we identify several lines of enquiry and action for future research and policy.

Mental health is inextricably linked to both poverty and future life chances such as education, skills, labour market attachment and social function. Poverty can lead to poorer mental health, which reduces opportunities and increases the risk of lifetime poverty. Cash transfer programmes are one of the most common strategies to reduce poverty and now reach substantial proportions of populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Because of their rapid expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently gained even more importance. Recently, there have been suggestions that these cash transfers might improve youth mental health, disrupting the cycle of disadvantage at a critical period of life. Here, we present a conceptual framework describing potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people. Furthermore, we explore how theories from behavioural economics and cognitive psychology could be used to more specifically target these mechanisms and optimise the impact of cash transfers on youth mental health and life chances. Based on this, we identify several lines of enquiry and action for future research and policy.

Mental health is inextricably linked to both poverty and future life chances such as education, skills, labour market attachment and social function. Poverty can lead to poorer mental health, which reduces opportunities and increases the risk of lifetime poverty. Cash transfer programmes are one of the most common strategies to reduce poverty and now reach substantial proportions of populations living in low- and middle-income countries. Because of their rapid expansion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have recently gained even more importance. Recently, there have been suggestions that these cash transfers might improve youth mental health, disrupting the cycle of disadvantage at a critical period of life. Here, we present a conceptual framework describing potential mechanisms by which cash transfer programmes could improve the mental health and life chances of young people. Furthermore, we explore how theories from behavioural economics and cognitive psychology could be used to more specifically target these mechanisms and optimise the impact of cash transfers on youth mental health and life chances. Based on this, we identify several lines of enquiry and action for future research and policy.

This paper explores the dynamics of caregiver rejection experienced by 40 homeless young adults 19–21 years of age. Using qualitative interviews, our findings reveal that nearly all of the youth reported at least one type of familial rejection that was intertwined with wider household conflict, and several youth experienced multiple types of rejection. Many young people reported “feeling like an outsider,” as they felt marginalized by family members and perceived a sense of outsiderness within their family networks. Some youth cited rejection when they were “betrayed by a primary caregiver for a significant other.” These intimate partners, such as a boyfriend, girlfriend or stepparent, often abused the young person, which exacerbated their experiences with caregiver rejection. Numerous youth were “pushed into institutional living,” such as foster care or group homes, at the behest of their primary caregivers, which stemmed from familial discord and behavioral issues on the part of the young person. In the most explicit form of rejection, youth were “kicked out by a caregiver” and subsequently entered into street life when they had nowhere else to go. Implications of these experiences are discussed, which can impact homeless young people’s future life chances as they attempt to exit the street.

Research on outcomes in child care presents formidable conceptual and methodological problems. Probably this is why the majority of publications in the child care field focus on evaluation of service provision. Measures of outcome either relate to short term objectives or use relatively crude indicators such as placement breakdown. This paper proposes a framework for assessing outcomes in child care in a more comprehensive and systematic way. The task is complicated by the many different categories and ages of children in care, the varying lengths of care episodes and the need for any assessment of outcome to be multi-dimensional. And who decides what outcome is desirable? Is it possible to reach a consensus across social class, regional and ethnic groups? The paper addresses some of these questions and describes a scheme in the process of development designed to provide a means of assessing quality of care on key dimensions and the impact of the period spent in care on the child’s experience and future life chances.

Children’s lives are to a considerable extent shaped by social policy. They are among the principal recipients of welfare services, and their experience in areas such as housing, health and education will do much to determine not only their present well-being but also their future life chances. Yet they make only shadowy appearances at best in most of the social policy literature. In the early 1980s it was suggested that: Children have been the companions of women in the closet of political science. A few short years ago women began to set up such a clamour that a few were released … Children remain, with few exceptions, both silent and invisible. (J. Elshtain, 1982)

The impact felt during a period of maternal imprisonment is not limited to the children. By the fact of their childhood, the separation of primary carer and child leaves the child in need of another adult to take on their care; that adult and their family and dependents are also affected. This chapter focuses on the way in which maternal imprisonment impacts upon caregivers, contrasting their situation with those who take on the care of a child who is in local authority care following Section 31 proceedings in the family courts. How such care and other factors affect the children’s future life chances are explored, as the imprisonment of their mother has longer-term effects on their lives and potential outcomes, which in turn affects communities and wider society.

Homelessness among young lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender-diverse and queer-identifying (LGBTQ+) persons is highly prevalent and constitutes a structural risk to health and future life chances. However, the distribution of homelessness burden is among different LGBTQ+ subgroups is poorly understood. An Australia-wide cross-sectional online survey was conducted involving 6,481 LGBTQ+ participants aged 14–21 years during 2019. Single-predictor logistic regression analyses identified factors associated with both lifetime and recent experiences of homelessness. Analyses also explored associations between recent (<12 months) experiences of homelessness, experiences of harassment, alcohol consumption, and psychological distress. Higher odds of experiencing homelessness were observed for trans and gender-diverse young people, individuals who identified with sexual identity labels other than lesbian, gay or bisexual, racially-minoritized persons, disabled persons and individuals from a religious family or household, compared to their respective counterparts. Experiencing homelessness was associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption and higher prevalence of experiencing verbal, physical and sexual harassment, but only modestly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Homelessness risk and burden is unevenly distributed among LGBTQ+ youth and is linked to outcomes which may potentiate future homelessness. Interventions addressing homelessness among this group must be optimized for those subgroups most vulnerable to experiencing homelessness.

Purpose: The objective of study was to establish the influence of curriculum and pedagogy on adjustment of form one students to secondary schools. School transition being an education milestone is a process that may expose students to numerous challenges thus positive or negative impacts on the learning outcomes. The study adopted Piaget’s Cognitive Learning Theory which suggests that the learner is an active participant in the process. Methodology: The research adopted survey research design and adapted a five-point summative Likert scale student questionnaire. Purposive and stratified random sampling methods were used to select a sample size of 375 form one students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze data. The descriptive were frequencies, means and standard deviation whereas inferential was Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient.Finding: Data was statistically computed with the findings (r=0.763, ρ&lt;0.05) indicating a strong positive relationship between Curriculum and Pedagogy and form one adjustment to secondary school.Conclusion: The study established that the introduction of many and new subjects using different approaches at form one level can result to academic dip especially to high achievers hence jeopardizing their future careers, employment prospects and life chances in general.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends curriculum and pedagogy harmonization from primary to secondary schools by curriculum developers for smooth academic transition hence completion of basic education by learners. There is need for all stakeholders to prepare students psychosocially prior to transition to secondary school

Editor's note

COVID 19, which has been disrupting lives and livelihoods for over a year, is leaving a trail of damages that have blocked pathways of progress, especially for groups in the margins. In the initial phases of the onset of the pandemic, it was treated as a major health hazard and the entire discourse centred around the means by which we could escape from being attacked by the virus. But as times rolled by, the realisation that the pandemic was upsetting future life chances of many groups that were already experiencing deprivation dawned on us. In this group, fall millions of girls whose hopes for an empowered future through formal schooling have gone into disarray, because when gender intersects with marginality, the intensity of the impact is stronger. With lockdowns resulting in forced school closures, not only was there a sudden rise in the number of out-of-school children, but intra-familial violence in the form of increased domestic drudgery, early marriages, adolescent pregnancies, lack of access to reproductive health care, sexual abuse by male family members also multiplied. This article attempts to analyse the impact of COVID-19 from a gender perspective, and in that background examine the dent it has made in the educational development of girl children.