UNICEF: In wealthier countries, 1 in 5 children living in poverty

By Francesca Merlo

Sixty-nine million children, more than one in five, live in poverty in the world's 40 richest countries. This is what has emerged from the latest data published on Wednesday 6 December by UNICEF. This signifies that more than twenty per cent of children in EU countries and other richer OECD countries do not have enough food, clothing, school supplies, or often even a home.

The report

The 'Report Card 18 - Child poverty in the midst of wealth' is the latest in a series that monitors child well-being in OECD and EU countries. It reports that France, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland recorded large increases in child poverty between 2014 and 2021, while Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovenia achieved the largest reductions. According to UNICEF, the report presents “the most up-to-date and comparable picture of poverty affecting children in OECD and EU countries and analyses governments' income support policies for families with children”.

These figures are such despite the fact that between 2012 and 2021 there has been a drop in child poverty rates of around eight per cent.

Who is most affected

The report highlights that the risk of poverty or social exclusion affects 28.8% of children and young people under 16 years of age in 2022, compared to 24.4% of the total population. The numbers show that minors are more disadvantaged when they live in the South and on Islands (46.6%), compared to the Centre (21.4%) and the North (18.3%). There are important differences in terms of risk between single-parent families (39.1%) compared to couples (27.2%). In particular, the rate reaches 41.3% when only the mother is present in the family.

Inequality

The report also emphasizes the obvious link between child poverty and economic inequality and also highlights the higher risk of poverty for children from single-parent and minority families. In the US, 30% of African American and 29% of Native American children live below the poverty line, compared to 10% of non-Hispanic white children. In the European Union, a child with non-EU parents is 2.4 times more likely to live in poverty.