Ethnicity and child poverty feasibility study

This feasibility study was conducted in order to establish the potential and parameters for a research study of child poverty and ethnicity in the United Kingdom. It explored potential data sources that were amenable to analysis by ethnic group and the sorts of questions relating to child poverty and ethnicity that they might fruitfully answer. It was used as the basis on which to agree the coverage of the main stage report on ethnicity and child poverty (Research Report No. 576 due to be published in May 2009). The feasibility study sets out the range of possibilities and options for analysis. The actual analysis carried out from among these possibilities was agreed with Department for Work and Pensions colleagues on the basis of their priorities and interests. The analysis for this report and the main body of the text were produced in 2007/08. Since that time there have been various changes to data access, new releases of data and development of the priorities of the commissioning team, with the result that not everything presented in this report remained relevant to the subsequent research that it informed. However, because a Research Report for that subsequent work is being published separately (Research Report No. 576 due to be published in May 2009), independently describing which data sources have been used and why, we feel it is appropriate to publish this feasibility study predominantly as it was initially produced, with additions only where the original text may lead to confusion.