Material Deprivation and Subjective Poverty Association With Subjective Well-Being Reported by Children: Religiosity as a Protective Factor

Public Policy Relevance Statement There is little research on the role of religiosity in the association between child poverty and subjective well-being. The present study, based on a representative sample of Israeli children, shows that religious belief plays a protective role in the association between material deprivation, subjective poverty, and children's subjective well-being, while religious practice does not have such an effect. This study explores the association between material deprivation and subjective poverty with children's subjective well-being (SWB) as well as the possible moderating effect of religiosity on this correlation among a representative sample of 2,733 Israeli fourth and sixth graders, Jews, and Arabs. All measures were based on children's reports, using a survey. The findings show that religiosity plays a protective role in this association. For children with stronger religious beliefs, the association between material deprivation and subjective poverty with subjective well-being is weaker and even insignificant in some of the models, which explains 28%-33% of the variance. Religious practice is not found to have a significant moderating effect on the association between material well-being and subjective well-being, suggesting that religiosity manifests differently among children and adults. These results show the significance that religiosity can play among children at risk as a protective factor. In light of the findings, we emphasize the importance of developing culturally sensitive interventions when tackling child poverty, taking into consideration the role of religiosity in their lives and its impact on children's well-being. More studies are needed, aiming at explaining the effect of religiosity on children's well-being.