Transmission and Persistence of Educational Poverty. Children and Anti-Poverty Policies in Greece, Italy, and Spain

In this paper we present the main outcomes from a research-study highlighting and discussing the analyses of children educational poverty according to the perspective of the intergenerational transmission and lifelong persistence of multidimensional poverty. Along the paper, we define educational poverty and measure its diffusion and intensity among Greek, Italian and Spanish early adolescents to question the potentials of anti-poverty policies on reducing and preventing the phenomenon. A general index of educational poverty is then introduced to understand the varying degrees of intensity of such cultural deprivation among early adolescents in the three countries. Conclusions report a series of policy remarks to redirect anti-poverty minimum income schemes policies towards effectiveness in breaking the chains of intergenerational transmission of educational poverty, in the light of the different intensity in Greece, Italy and Spain.