A League Table of Child Poverty in Rich Nations

A League Table of Child Poverty in Rich Nations

Published: 2000 Innocenti Report Card
This new report on child poverty in the world’s wealthiest nations concludes that one in six of the rich world’s children is poor - a total of 47 million. The new research, published in the first UNICEF Innocenti Report Card, provides the most comprehensive estimates so far of child poverty across the member countries of the OECD. Despite a doubling and redoubling of national incomes in most OECD nations since 1950, a significant percentage of their children are still living in families so materially poor that normal health and growth are at risk. A far larger proportion remain in relative poverty. Their physical needs may be catered for, but they are painfully excluded from the activities and advantages that are considered normal by their peers. The report reveals a wide range of child poverty rates in countries at broadly similar levels of economic development – from under 3 per cent in Sweden to a high of over 22 per cent in the USA. By comparing data from different countries, the new research asks what can be learned about the causes of child poverty and examines the policies that have contributed to the success of lower rates in some countries. In particular, it seeks to explain the situation by exploring the impact on poverty rates of lone parenthood, unemployment, low wages and levels of social expenditures. The Report Card calls for a new commitment to ending child poverty in the world’s richest nations.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 28 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, children's rights violation, comparative analysis, industrialized countries | Publisher: Innocenti Research Centre
Tabla clasificatoria de la situación de los niños pobres en las naciones ricas

Tabla clasificatoria de la situación de los niños pobres en las naciones ricas

Published: 2000 Innocenti Report Card
Las tablas clasificatorias de la pobreza infantil presentadas en este primer número de las Innocenti Report Cards (Boletines de Clasificaciones Innocenti) constituyen la evaluación más exhaustiva que se haya realizado hasta ahora de la pobreza infantil en todo el mundo industrializado. Las estadísticas contenidas en estas páginas ponen al descubierto una amenaza real para todos los ciudadanos de las naciones que tienen una tasa elevada de pobreza infantil. Porque si bien es cierto que muchas familias pobres se sacrifican para ayudar a sus hijos a comenzar la vida del mejor modo posible, la visión de conjunto del problema revela que para las personas que crecen en la indigencia son mayores las probabilidades de tener dificultades de aprendizaje, de abandonar los estudios, de refugiarse en el abuso de drogas, de cometer delitos, de encontrarse sin empleo, de quedar embarazadas en edad excesivamente precoz y de llevar adelante una vida que no hace más que perpetuar la pobreza y la marginación en las generaciones por venir.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 28 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, children's rights violation, comparative analysis, industrialized countries | Publisher: Innocenti Research Centre
Tableau de classement de la pauvreté des enfants parmi les nations riches

Tableau de classement de la pauvreté des enfants parmi les nations riches

Published: 2000 Innocenti Report Card
Les classements des résultats sur la pauvreté des enfants que contient ce premier Bilan Innocenti constituent les estimations les plus détaillées à ce jour sur ce sujet à travers le monde industrialisé. Les statistiques présentées dans ce document trahissent la menace qui pèse sur la qualité de vie de tout citoyen des pays don’t les taux de pauvreté des enfants sont élevés. S’il est vrai que de nombreuses familles pauvres n’hésitent pas à faire des sacrifices afin d’offrir à leurs enfants le meilleur départ possible dans la vie, l’image d’ensemble révèle cependant que les individus qui grandissent dans la pauvreté sont plus susceptibles de rencontrer des difficultés scolaires, d’abandonner l’école, de recourir aux drogues, de commettre des crimes, de ne pas trouver de travail, d’avoir trop jeune un enfant et de mener une vie perpétuant sur de nombreuses générations la pauvreté et autres conditions désavantageuses.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 28 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, children's rights violation, comparative analysis, industrialized countries | Publisher: Innocenti Research Centre
Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations

Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations

AUTHOR(S)
Bruce Bradbury; Stephen P. Jenkins; John Micklewright

Published: 2000 Innocenti Working Papers
This paper compares child poverty dynamics cross-nationally using panel data from seven nations: the USA, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, and Russia. As well as using standard relative poverty definitions the paper examines flows into and out of the poorest fifth of the children's income distribution. Significant (but not total) uniformity in patterns of income mobility and poverty dynamics across the seven countries is found. The key exception is Russia, where the economic transition has led to a much higher degree of mobility. Interestingly, the USA which has the highest level of relative poverty among the rich nations, has a mobility rate which, if anything, is less than that of the other nations.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 48 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, comparative analysis, income distribution, industrialized countries | Publisher: UNICEF IRC
Child Poverty in Spain: What can be said?

Child Poverty in Spain: What can be said?

AUTHOR(S)
Olga Cantó Sanchez; Magda Mercader-Prats

During the last three decades Spain has undergone a major political and socio-economic transformation. Over the same period, indicators such as average welfare levels as measured by real disposable per capita income or expenditure on social protection have shown a signifiant net rise; this growth has occurred in parallel with both an increasing flexibility in the labour market and a dramatic jump in unemployment. In contrast with many other European countries in which relative poverty has been tending to increase in recent decades, poverty in Spain has been slightly reduced. The effect of these changes on the economic welfare situation of children has not been explored. The aim of this paper is therefore to provide evidence on the static and dynamic aspects of relative poverty among children, namely, its extent, evolution and persistence.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 28 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, child welfare, economic reform, industrialized countries | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Child Poverty and Deprivation in Portugal: A national case study

Child Poverty and Deprivation in Portugal: A national case study

AUTHOR(S)
Manuela Silva

Cite this publication | No. of pages: 56 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, economic and social conditions | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Children of the Runaway Cities: The impact of urban poverty on childhood and family life in the Philippines

Children of the Runaway Cities: The impact of urban poverty on childhood and family life in the Philippines

AUTHOR(S)
Maggie Black

Published: 1991 Innocenti Studies
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 44 | Thematic area: Child Poverty, Urban Child | Tags: child poverty, urban children, urban families | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Child Poverty and Deprivation in Industrialized Countries: Recent trends and policy options

Child Poverty and Deprivation in Industrialized Countries: Recent trends and policy options

AUTHOR(S)
Giovanni Andrea Cornia

Cite this publication | No. of pages: 48 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, economic and social conditions, industrialized countries | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Povertà e condizione dei minori in Italia dagli anni cinquanta ad oggi

Povertà e condizione dei minori in Italia dagli anni cinquanta ad oggi

AUTHOR(S)
Chiara Saraceno

Cite this publication | No. of pages: 54 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, child welfare, family welfare, socio-economic status | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
Pauvreté et privations de l’enfant dans les pays industrialisés : recentes tendances et options politiques

Pauvreté et privations de l’enfant dans les pays industrialisés : recentes tendances et options politiques

AUTHOR(S)
Giovanni Andrea Cornia

Cite this publication | No. of pages: 44 | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: child poverty, economic and social conditions, industrialized countries | Publisher: UNICEF ICDC, Florence
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