Innocenti Research Briefs Children and the Cost-of-living Crisis: How food and energy inflation has increased poverty in households with children in the European Union AUTHOR(S) Dominic Richardson; Alessandro Carraro; Margherita Squarcina; Fernando Flores Tavares; Gwyther Rees Published: 2023 Innocenti Research Briefs Children and families throughout the European Union are facing a cost-of-living crisis that has eroded living standards to such an extent that up to an additional 3 million children in 26 EU countries are now living in conditions equivalent to relative income poverty.For families and children in the EU, the cost-of-living crisis is being experienced primarily through higher prices for food and energy. In addition, increasing interest rates make borrowing less affordable, placing a growing strain on the sustainability of businesses, mortgages, loans and government debt.This research brief presents the first results of an analysis of how the cost-of-living crisis has affected the poverty experienced by households with children in the European Union (EU). It takes account of sharply increasing food and energy prices to calculate the additional number of children living in poverty, in real terms, due to the crisis. The brief also recommends that policymakers and governments protect children and families with steps that include expanding and index-linking child cash benefits to cover the needs of families, implementing guarantees to provide free meals for children in schools and providing services that prevent ‘holiday hunger’ when schools are closed in the summer months. + - Cite this publication | Thematic area: Child Poverty | Tags: economic analysis, economic and social conditions, poverty × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Dominic Richardson; Alessandro Carraro; Margherita Squarcina; Fernando Flores Tavares; Gwyther Rees 2023 Children and the Cost-of-living Crisis: How food and energy inflation has increased poverty in households with children in the European Union.
Innocenti Research Report Monitoring the Social Costs of Climate Change for Low- and Middle-income Countries Published: 2022 Innocenti Research Report This policy brief is the third in a series that assesses key issues affecting social spending as part of UNICEF’s work on Public Finance for Children.It aims to add to the understanding on of what climate change means for social sector budgets, and the extent to which social sectors are being prioritized in the climate response. Social sectors face rising climate-related costs but positive opportunities to raise the required additional financing required remain. These include: leveraging green technologies; reforming energy subsidies and harnessing green financing initiatives. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 43 | Thematic area: Social Policies, Social protection, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: climate change, poverty, public finance, technological change × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION 2022 Monitoring the Social Costs of Climate Change for Low- and Middle-income Countries. , pp. 43.
Miscellanea Best of UNICEF Research 2021 Published: 2021 Miscellanea Best of UNICEF Research showcases the most rigorous, innovative and impactful research produced by UNICEF offices worldwide. While evidence highlights emerging issues, it also informs decisions and provides policy and programme recommendations for governments and partners to improve children’s lives. This ninth edition brings together 11 powerful studies from around the world and across the five Strategic Goal Areas. How do South Asian youth feel about entering the world of work? What is the effect of climate-related hazards on access to health care? How has COVID-19 affected children and their families in the Republic of Moldova? With social and economic inequalities increasing and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals lagging, rigorous research – answers to these questions – has never mattered more. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 115 | Tags: child marriage, child poverty, children, climate change, COVID-19, disabilities, discrimination, discrimination based on disability, east asia, ghana, health care, HIV and AIDS, learning, montenegro, palestine, policy and planning, poverty, primary education, republic of moldova, research, south asia, southern africa, unicef, unicef policies × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION 2021 Best of UNICEF Research 2021. , pp. 115.
Miscellanea A Lifeline at Risk: COVID-19, Remittances and Children AUTHOR(S) Gilmar Zambrana Cruz; Gwyther Rees Published: 2020 Miscellanea Millions of children around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, live in households that receive money and other forms of support from a family member who has moved abroad, or to another part of the same country, to work. This form of assistance, or ‘remittances’, can alleviate household poverty and is often a key support for children’s development. In times of global economic uncertainty, however, remittances can be an unstable source of income for families. The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting migrant workers’ job security, making it more difficult to send remittances. At the same time, families receiving remittances are facing their own economic and health challenges, meaning that the continuation of remittances is vital to keep them from slipping into poverty. This briefing paper outlines the potential risks of reduction in remittances due to the pandemic for children in households receiving remittances and what can be done to minimize these risks. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 20 | Thematic area: Child Poverty, Social protection | Tags: child poverty, COVID-19, COVID-19 response, poverty, remittances × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Gilmar Zambrana Cruz; Gwyther Rees 2020 A Lifeline at Risk: COVID-19, Remittances and Children. , pp. 20.
Innocenti Working Papers Can social assistance (with a child lens) help in reducing urban poverty in Ghana? Evidence, challenges and the way forward AUTHOR(S) Stephen Devereux; Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai; Jose Cuesta; Jaideep Gupte; Luigi Peter Ragno; Keetie Roelen; Rachel Sabates-Wheeler; Tayllor Spadafora Published: 2018 Innocenti Working Papers Experience with urban social assistance programmes is still limited. Many of the existing urban programmes are extensions or duplicates of rural programmes, but urban-sensitive social protection needs to reflect the distinct vulnerabilities of the urban poor. Furthermore, applying a child lens requires identifying and addressing the specific risks and multiple deprivations that are experienced by half of urban children in developing countries. As a result, designing social assistance for urban contexts faces challenges such as accurately targeting the poor (given the spatial geography of urban poverty) and setting appropriate payment levels (given the high and variable costs of urban living). Geographic targeting (e.g. informal settlements), proxy means testing (if urban-sensitive) and categorical targeting (e.g. street children) are popular mechanisms in urban areas, but community-based targeting is often inappropriate (because of urban social fragmentation) while self-targeting can be unethical (e.g. where wages below market rates are paid in public works projects) and might contradict rights-based approaches. These are relevant challenges to address when designing urban social protection programmes. We apply these reflections to Ghana. The country is a relevant case study because it is growing and urbanizing rapidly. But as the result of urbanization, urban poverty and deprivations are rising even though national poverty rates have halved. Anti-poverty policies and social protection interventions remain biased towards the rural poor. The ‘urbanization of poverty’ in Ghana has created problems such as overcrowded housing, limited access to sanitation, and outbreaks of communicable diseases. This paper provides guidance on the critical questions to ask to design in Ghana a successful urban social protection programme with a child lens. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 37 | Thematic area: Social Policies | Tags: child well-being, poverty, social protection, urban environment × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Stephen Devereux; Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai; Jose Cuesta; Jaideep Gupte; Luigi Peter Ragno; Keetie Roelen; Rachel Sabates-Wheeler; Tayllor Spadafora 2018 Can social assistance (with a child lens) help in reducing urban poverty in Ghana? Evidence, challenges and the way forward. , pp. 37.
Innocenti Working Papers Linking Social Rights to Active Citizenship for the Most Vulnerable: The role of rights and accountability in the 'making and 'shaping' of social protection AUTHOR(S) Rachel Sabates-Wheeler; Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai; Nikhil Wilmink; Richard de Groot; Tayllor Spadafora Published: 2017 Innocenti Working Papers The rise of social protection into the limelight of social policy has opened up space for understanding how it can act as a key interface between states and citizens. This paper rethinks social protection through the lens of citizenship. It considers how the design and implementation of social protection can be shifted away from discretionary and technocratic forms, to forms which stimulate vulnerable citizens to make justice-based claims for their rights and demand accountability for the realization of those rights. It puts forward a conceptual framework for social protection with three modalities through which citizens can be engaged: as shapers and makers; as users and choosers; and as passive consumers. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 44 | Thematic area: Social Policies | Tags: citizenship, poverty, social protection × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Rachel Sabates-Wheeler; Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai; Nikhil Wilmink; Richard de Groot; Tayllor Spadafora 2017 Linking Social Rights to Active Citizenship for the Most Vulnerable: The role of rights and accountability in the 'making and 'shaping' of social protection. , pp. 44.
Innocenti Working Papers Sustainable Development Goal 1.2: Multidimensional child poverty in the European Union AUTHOR(S) Yekaterina Chzhen; Zlata Bruckauf; Emilia Toczydlowska Published: 2017 Innocenti Working Papers 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. Since few European Union (EU) countries have an official national multidimensional poverty measure for monitoring progress towards the SDGs, this paper proposes and evaluates a child-specific multidimensional poverty measure using data from ad hoc material deprivation modules of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2009 and 2014. The proposed measure can be used both for national and EU-wide SDG monitoring without replacing either national or EU-wide indices of material deprivation. Comparing child multidimensional poverty rates between 2009 and 2014, the paper ranks EU countries based on the 2014 headcount rates and changes over time.A revised version of this working paper has been published in the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 28 | Thematic area: Child Poverty, Child well-being | Tags: adolescents, multiple deprivation, poverty, sustainable development × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Yekaterina Chzhen; Zlata Bruckauf; Emilia Toczydlowska 2017 Sustainable Development Goal 1.2: Multidimensional child poverty in the European Union. , pp. 28.
Innocenti Working Papers Comparing Child-focused SDGs in High-income Countries: Indicator development and overview AUTHOR(S) Dominic Richardson; Zlata Bruckauf; Emilia Toczydlowska; Yekaterina Chzhen Published: 2017 Innocenti Working Papers 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. + - Cite this publication | Thematic area: Child well-being | Tags: developed countries, education, gender equality, health, household consumption, hunger, indicators, nutrition, poverty, SDGs, sustainable cities × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Dominic Richardson; Zlata Bruckauf; Emilia Toczydlowska; Yekaterina Chzhen 2017 Comparing Child-focused SDGs in High-income Countries: Indicator development and overview.
Innocenti Working Papers Poverty and Children’s Cognitive Trajectories: Evidence from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study AUTHOR(S) Zlata Bruckauf; Yekaterina Chzhen Published: 2016 Innocenti Working Papers Existing evidence is inconclusive on whether a socio-economic gradient in children’s cognitive ability widens, narrows or remains stable over time and there is little research on the extent of ‘cognitive mobility’ of children who had a poor start in life compared to their peers. Using data from five sweeps of the United Kingdom (UK) Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) at the ages of 9 months, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years and 11 years, this paper explores the cognitive ability trajectory of children in the bottom decile of the distribution at a given age, and the factors that drive or hinder their progress relative to their peers. The paper analyses children’s risks of moving in and out of the bottom decile of the cognitive ability distribution. The findings indicate a relatively high level of cognitive mobility between ages 3 and 11, especially in the pre-school period (between ages 3 and 5), with children from income-poor households more likely to get ‘trapped’ in the bottom of the age-specific cognitive ability distribution. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 32 | Thematic area: Health, Industrialized Countries, Social Policies | Tags: cognitive development, household surveys, poverty, social surveys × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Zlata Bruckauf; Yekaterina Chzhen 2016 Poverty and Children’s Cognitive Trajectories: Evidence from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study. , pp. 32.
Innocenti Research Briefs Initial Research Findings on Adolescent Well-being from the Office of Research – Innocenti AUTHOR(S) Prerna Banati Published: 2016 Innocenti Research Briefs This research programme aims to advance global understanding of social and structural determinants of adolescent well-being. The multi-donor research programme on social and structural determinants of adolescent well-being is working with national government partners, academics, think tanks, and institutions to improve understanding of various dimensions of adolescents’ lives. The programme is producing cutting-edge research that explores what works to improve outcomes for adolescents. Quality evidence can then inform effective policy and interventions for young people. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 3 | Thematic area: Adolescents | Tags: adolescents, cash transfers, information technology, parent-child relationship, poverty, research, violence × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Prerna Banati 2016 Initial Research Findings on Adolescent Well-being from the Office of Research – Innocenti. , pp. 3.
Innocenti Discussion Papers How Inequalities Develop through Childhood: Life course evidence from the Young Lives cohort study AUTHOR(S) Paul Dornan; Martin Woodhead Published: 2015 Innocenti Discussion Papers This paper contributes longitudinal research evidence on these issues, notably: the impact of structural inequalities on children’s development within households and communities; the ways access to health, education and other key services may reduce or amplify inequalities; and especially evidence on the ways that children’s developmental trajectories diverge from early in life, through to early adulthood. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 60 | Thematic area: Child Poverty, Early Childhood, Equity, Social determinants | Tags: development, early childhood development, inequity, methodology, poverty, research methods × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Paul Dornan; Martin Woodhead 2015 How Inequalities Develop through Childhood: Life course evidence from the Young Lives cohort study. , pp. 60.
Innocenti Working Papers Cash Transfers and Climate-resilient Development: Evidence from Zambia’s Child Grant Programme AUTHOR(S) Kathleen Lawlor; Sudhanshu Handa; David Seidenfeld; Zambia Cash Transfer Evaluation Team Published: 2015 Innocenti Working Papers This study investigates whether cash transfers enable households facing weather and other negative income shocks to avoid adverse coping strategies that can lead to poverty traps. While cash transfers are not routinely considered in the policy discourse concerning climate adaptation programming, because ex-ante transfers enable households to avoid negative coping strategies and even increase food consumption in the face of covariate weather shocks, cash transfers offer a sound approach for building climate-resilience amongst the world’s most vulnerable and facilitating their “autonomous adaptation” to a changing environment. Cash also enables households to productively cope with the many other idiosyncratic shocks the rural poor routinely face. + - Cite this publication | No. of pages: 44 | Thematic area: Child Poverty, Economic Development, Social Policies | Tags: cash transfers, child nutrition, nutrition projects, poverty, poverty alleviation, poverty reduction, rural poverty × COPY BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION Kathleen Lawlor; Sudhanshu Handa; David Seidenfeld; Zambia Cash Transfer Evaluation Team 2015 Cash Transfers and Climate-resilient Development: Evidence from Zambia’s Child Grant Programme. , pp. 44.