Millions of children live in poverty in the world’s richest countries
In the statistics, that followed the economic crisis, children's povetry was not usually included. “In a downturn,” says Sharon Goldfeld, National Director of the Australian Early Development Index, “the first thing that happens is that children drop off the policy agenda.”
As debates rage on austerity measures and social spending cuts, UNICEF’s Office of Research introduces a new report on children deprivation and poverty, Report Card 10.The report, revealed on 26 May, shows the extent of child deprivation in the world’s advanced economies.
“The data reinforces that far too many children continue to go without the basics in countries that have the means to provide,” said Gordon Alexander, Director of UNICEF's Office of Research.
The report examines child poverty and child deprivation in two different ways. It tries to estimate what percentage of children is falling significantly behind what can be considered normal for their own societies.
The first measure is a Child Deprivation Index. Child is defined as deprived if he or she lacks two or more of a list of fourteen basic items, such as three meals a day, a quiet place to do homework, or regular leisure activities. The highest rates of deprivation are found in countries that include Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal. Also in some richer countries, such as France and Italy, deprivation rates are above 10%. The Nordic countries have the least deprivation among children, all with rates below 3%.
The second measure looks at relative poverty. It examines the percentage of children living below their national “poverty line”, which is defined as 50% of median disposable household income. The lowest rates of relative child poverty are in Nordic countries and Netherlands, situation is much worse in Romania or United States.
“The report makes clear that some governments are doing much better at tackling child deprivation than others,” said Alexander. “The best performers show it is possible to address poverty within the current fiscal space. On the flip side, failure to protect children from today’s economic crisis is one of the most costly mistakes a society can make.” new europe online
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