Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries

Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries

AUTHOR(S)
Mary Daly; Sunwoo Ryu; Ertuğrul Polat

Published: 2023 Innocenti Working Papers
Child-related Policies in the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 40 Countries uses evidence to present a broad-ranging analysis of the child-related policies and activities undertaken by the 40 European Union (EU) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This working paper focuses on six policy fields: education, early childhood education and care (ECEC), parental leave, income support, food support and health-related provision. 

It concludes that:

Child and family policy was active during the COVID-19 pandemic

Developments tended to focus on protecting adults from risks rather than children.

Child-related measures took time to evolve and were, as a result, reactive in manner

There was a wide variety of measures adopted across countries.

This working paper was partially funded by the University of Oxford and UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight.
Why Income Inequalities Matter for Young People’s Health: A look at the evidence

Why Income Inequalities Matter for Young People’s Health: A look at the evidence

AUTHOR(S)
Aixa Y. Alemán-Díaz; Emilia Toczydlowska; Joanna Mazur; Diana Frasquilho; Marina Melkumova; Goran Holmqvist

Published: 2016 Innocenti Working Papers

Although child and adolescent inequalities are still less understood than those of adults, we have made progress in understanding the pathways that lead to negative outcomes and the limitations of some ‘adult-specific’ indicators as proxies of young people’s health and well-being. Nonetheless, the academic literature has been able to establish a clear negative relationship between a person’s material circumstances and their health outcomes and behaviours such as being overweight, lack of physical activity, higher levels of smoking and mental health problems, all of which persist throughout a person’s life. The personal and societal toll of these effects is clear, yet policies are still lagging behind, tackling proximal causes rather than ‘the causes of the causes’ of these health inequalities. This paper aims to summarise relevant knowledge on the socio-economic causes of health inequalities in children. It will not only provide a foundation to the Innocenti Report Card 13 in terms of outlining our knowledge regarding the drivers of health inequality but it will also help us shed light on its consequences.

Cite this publication | No. of pages: 24 | Thematic area: Adolescents, Health | Tags: adolescent health, income, inequality
Significant Changes to Family-related Benefits in Rich Countries during the Great Recession

Significant Changes to Family-related Benefits in Rich Countries during the Great Recession

AUTHOR(S)
Saara Hämäläinen; Yekaterina Chzhen; Jorge Vargas

Published: 2014 Innocenti Working Papers
To analyse the effect of the economic crisis and the ensuing fiscal stimulus and/or consolidation measures on children’s living conditions across the OECD and/or the EU, this paper investigates changes in disposable incomes of low-wage households with children since 2008, with a particular focus on family-related benefits. It uses the model family method coupled with tax-benefit simulation techniques for the period 2008-2012. The paper also summarises qualitatively significant changes to family-related benefits, some of which are too recent to have been included in the publicly available tax-benefit simulation models.
The Consequences of the Recent Economic Crisis and Government Reactions for Children

The Consequences of the Recent Economic Crisis and Government Reactions for Children

AUTHOR(S)
Bruno Martorano

Published: 2014 Innocenti Working Papers
The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the different policy reactions of European governments to the recent economic crisis on income distribution and poverty, giving special attention to children. Almost all the governments introduced fiscal stimulus packages in the first phase of the crisis. Nonetheless, the persistence of bad economic conditions led to a drop in the countries’ revenues with a deterioration of their fiscal conditions. In addition, the pressure coming from the financial markets and the resurgence of an orthodox policy approach pushed many governments to introduce austerity measures since 2010. In particular, there was a growing consensus about the necessity of fiscal consolidation despite awareness of the possible negative impact on economic performance and social outcomes. Some governments preferred to increase taxes while others preferred to reduce public expenditure, also cutting benefits and services for children and their families.
Cite this publication | No. of pages: 24 | Thematic area: Child Poverty, Social Policies | Tags: crisis, europe, income, inequality, poverty
Child Deprivation, Multidimensional Poverty and Monetary Poverty in Europe

Child Deprivation, Multidimensional Poverty and Monetary Poverty in Europe

AUTHOR(S)
Chris De Neubourg; Yekaterina Chzhen; Gill Main; Bruno Martorano; Leonardo Menchini; Jonathan Bradshaw

Published: 2012 Innocenti Working Papers
The paper focuses on child deprivation in Europe and studies the degree to which it is experienced by children in 29 countries using a child specific deprivation scale. The paper discusses the construction of a child deprivation scale and estimates a European Child Deprivation Index for the 29 countries using 14 specific child related variables made available by the child module of the EU-SILC 2009 survey. The 29 countries are ranked according to the degree of child deprivation: the results show considerable differences between the countries. The (non-)overlap between child deprivation and child monetary poverty is considerable but limited. In general the results indicate where policy interventions can produce improvements. (REVISED VERSION)
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