Abstract
The aim of this article is to discuss how economic hardship is experienced in school and among same-aged groups, and to explore how children and youth affected by poverty manage their situation in the school setting. In relation to this, I problematize the relevance of the stigma concept and the ‘peer group’ concept. The article takes its starting point in childhood sociology, and is based on an interview study involving 17 children and young people, between the ages of 6 and 18, who live in economic hardship. I argue that the accounts of experiencing and dealing with poverty in school show the complexity of this issue, which leads to a re-exanimation of how economic hardship among children and young people is understood.
