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Profiles

Emilia Toczydlowska

Former Consultant (Former title)

Emilia joined UNICEF's Office of Research – Innocenti in February 2015. She is a member of the team responsible for analysis and production of UNICEF Report Card on child well-being in rich countries. She specialised in Social Policy Design and Financing as a part of her Master in Public Policy and Human Development, and has a BA in Economics and Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Her previous experience includes time spent in Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) and United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Together with a team, she won United Nation University competition for project funding and has been selected to lead the research for Overseas Development Assistance Campaign "Inside the Black Box" that was launched in early April 2014. Emilia’s research interest include poverty analysis, income inequality, income mobility, microsimulation and effectiveness of tax-benefit systems.

Publications

Growing Inequality and Unequal Opportunities in Rich Countries
Publication

Growing Inequality and Unequal Opportunities in Rich Countries

Inequality can have wide-ranging effects on communities, families and children. Income inequality (measured through the Gini index) was found to have an association with higher levels of peer violence in 35 countries (Elgar et al. 2009) and to influence the use of alcohol and drunkenness among 11- and 13-year olds (Elgar et al. 2005). On a macro level, countries with greater income inequality among children have lower levels of child well-being and higher levels of child poverty (Toczydlowska et al. 2016). More worrying still is that growing inequality reinforces the impact of socio-economic status (SES) on children’s outcomes, limiting social mobility. Concern about growing inequality features prominently on the current international development agenda. Goal 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls specifically to reduce inequality within and among countries, while the concept of ‘leaving no one behind’ reflects the spirit of greater fairness in society. But with a myriad of measures and definitions of inequality used in literature, the focus on children is often diluted. This brief contributes to this debate by presenting child-relevant distributional measures that reflect inequality of outcomes as well as opportunity for children in society, over time.
Comparing Child-focused SDGs in High-income Countries: Indicator development and overview
Publication

Comparing Child-focused SDGs in High-income Countries: Indicator development and overview

The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aim to build on the achievements made under the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by broadening their scope and building upon a consultative process. The MDGs contributed to substantial social progress in eight key areas: poverty; education; gender equality; child mortality; maternal health; disease; the environment; and global partnership. The SDGs not only include a greater number of development goals than the MDGs, but are also global in focus, including advanced economies for the first time. This paper draws attention to the main challenges the 2030 Agenda presents for rich countries, by highlighting a set of critical child specific indicators, evaluating countries’ progress towards meeting the Goals, and highlighting gaps in existing data. The paper will inform UNICEFs Report Card 14, Building the Future: Children and the Sustainable Development Goals in Rich Countries.
Sustainable Development Goal 1.2: Multidimensional child poverty in the European Union
Publication

Sustainable Development Goal 1.2: Multidimensional child poverty in the European Union

The new universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for “reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions” by 2030.
Growing Inequality and Unequal Opportunities in Rich Countries
Publication

Growing Inequality and Unequal Opportunities in Rich Countries

Journal articles

International trends in ‘bottom-end’inequality in adolescent physical activity and nutrition: HBSC study 2002–2014
Journal Article

International trends in ‘bottom-end’inequality in adolescent physical activity and nutrition: HBSC study 2002–2014

Multidimensional Poverty Among Adolescents in 38 Countries: Evidence from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2013/14 Study
Journal Article

Multidimensional Poverty Among Adolescents in 38 Countries: Evidence from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2013/14 Study