Article

A League Table of Child Poverty in Rich Nations

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Abstract

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.

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... Protecting the vulnerable is one of the normative cornerstones of the welfare state, but efforts to reduce poverty rates vary a great deal across countries. Unicef (2000; finds that higher government spending on family and social benefits is clearly associated with lower child poverty rates. Bradshaw and Finch (2002) conclude that government policies play an important role for child poverty rates. ...
... This is also in accordance to former studies (ibid. ;Unicef 2000;Bradshaw and Finch 2002;Jensen et al. 2004). ...
... Income poverty has its shortcomings, but it would be wrong to underestimate its relevance to important aspects of the everyday life of children and their later life as adults (Unicef 2000;Esping-Andersen and Sarasa 2002). ...
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This thesis is a quantitative study of distributive justice between generations or age groups. It is theoretically informed by a synchronic generation approach and John Rawls’s theory of justice-as-fairness. The empirical part compares the economic positions of, and public spending on, children, adults and the elderly in 16 European countries. The theoretical part is used as a platform for the empirical analysis. In addition to Rawls, a discussion of distributive justice includes the classical theories of Plato and Aristotle and more recent utilitarian, egalitarian and desert-based theories. The synchronic generation approach is presented and compared to diachronic approaches to studies of generational relations. The synchronic approach is theorized by scholars working in the tradition of the social studies of childhood. The chapter on methods identifies children, adults and the old by way of age brackets, it presents indicators of public spending and income, and it points out empirical applications of equality, equal opportunity and the difference principle. The techniques of analyses are presented; descriptive analysis and OLS regression. The explanatory variables vary, but in all cases include economic performance, age structure and a modified version of Esping-Andersen`s classification of welfare states (Social Democratic, Conservative, Liberal and Southern European). Six research questions are answered in the empirical part, using official statistics from Eurostat, OECD and Statistics Norway. Over the past few decades there is an extensive growth on spending on the elderly, but spending on family and children does not decline. Multivariate analyses indicate that the size of old age and family and child benefits vary across welfare regimes. The Social Democratic and Conservative welfare states are more egalitarian and have lower poverty rates compared to the Liberal and Southern European welfare states. These regime variances are also seen in multivariate analyses of child poverty and old age poverty. Risk factors for child poverty are parental unemployment, children living with single parents, young parents, ethnic parents, and low educated parents. A multivariate analysis points to a link between the size of family and child benefits and fertility rates.
... 20. Data on cross-national comparisons of child poverty rates and trends are provided on a consistent basis by Eurostat for the EU countries (Mejer and Siermann, 2000; Mejer and Linden, 2000). In addition, data are provided for 25 industrialised countries from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) a collection of household surveys providing data that are sufficiently comparable to allow meaningful cross-national comparisons (Bradbury, Jenkins, and Micklewright, 2001; see also Vleminckx and Smeeding, 2001 and Unicef Innocenti, 2000), and a recent OECD project provides similar data (Förster, 2000). Data for several individual countries draw on country socio-economic panel surveys (Bradbury, Jenkins, and Micklewright, 2001), national longitudinal surveys, and on national census data (FIAF, 2001; U.S.DHHS, 2001). ...
... 21. Despite the growing concern, there is no evidence that child poverty increased generally during the 1990s (Vleminckx and Smeeding, 2001; Bradbury, Jenkins, and Micklewright, 2001; Unicef Innocenti, 2000, Förster 2000). Nor was there a consistent trend in child poverty across countries during the 1990s; nor is there evidence of a general " childrenisation " of poverty. ...
... As is well established by now, income transfers are a key to reducing child poverty and enhancing the economic situation of children and their families. ( Jantii, 1999 and Immervoll, et al. 2001; Oxley et al. 2001; Solera, 2001; and Smeeding, 2001 in Vleminckx and Smeeding,2001; Bradbury, Jenkins, and Micklewright 2001; Kamerman and Kahn, 1997a; Bodnarova, 2001; and Unicef Innocenti, 2000). Differences in policies mean that some countries reduce pre-tax and pre-transfer child poverty by as much as 20 percentage points and others by as little as 5. Oxley, et al. (2001) found that family cash benefits are vital for the protection of children against poverty in Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the U.K.; while clearly too low in Ireland, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain. ...
... Recent research in Germany has examined the relationship between childhood poverty and education and suggests that it is not low income per se that decreases the probability of educational advancement but factors such as parents' education and work history. Research in the UK shows that although adult wages for boys who experienced childhood poverty may fall significantly below the average, this fall is halved when parents' education is taken into the equation (Innocenti Research Centre, 2000). While this research seems to indicate that increasing the income of low-income households may have only a limited impact on outcomes for children, a number of qualifying points need to be made. ...
... Consequently the numbers under the 'real' poverty line decreased substantially. However, relative poverty encompasses the notion that what constitutes an acceptable standard of living changes over time and that falling behind the average means exclusion from the normal life of society (Innocenti Research Centre, 2000). If one accepts that children suffer from the poverty of their parents, then the risk of poverty for children is influenced by a number of household characteristics. ...
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Abstract This paper,explores,the concept,of an income,adequacy,standard,for children. Given the clear relationship between child poverty, income and welfare status, Ireland’s child income ,policy as articulated ,in a ,number ,of significant ,policy documents ,is reviewed,and the consideration,of adequacy,in these,documents,is highlighted. The relative generosity ,of Ireland’s ,child benefit ,package ,in international, terms ,is considered.,In the ,absence ,of direct ,measures ,of the ,adequacy ,of child ,income support in Ireland, adequacy is considered in the light of two indirect indicators: child
... This perspective emphasizes that involvement of the child in this process can bring about a more accurate understanding of the level of child poverty and it delineates the multi-dimensional characteristics of child poverty. In this approach, instead of different dimensions being determined previously by researchers/ policy makers, the child prioritizes and defines the various aspects of their socioeconomic condition 3,[9][10][11] . In recent years, this approach has evolved and been adopted by institutions like UNICEF and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). ...
... Many studies on child poverty were completed by, or commissioned by, UNICEF and OECD. In the UNICEF studies, child poverty, particularly in developed countries, is examined with a multi-dimensional approach by focusing on prevention strategies 3,10 . In the OECD studies, however, emphasis is on poverty level in OECD countries within the context of overall income. ...
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The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) defines child poverty as the inability of the child to realize their existing potential due to their inability to access resources across different dimensions of life (income, health, nutrition, education, environment, etc.). On the basis of this definition, an attempt has been made in this study to put forth the disadvantaged positions children have in different dimensions of their lives, specifically by taking regional disparities into account. As the data source, the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey 2008 is used, a survey that consists of detailed information about the different dimensions of child poverty. In this study, in order to measure poverty in four different dimensions (education and work, health and nutrition, family environment, and domestic environment), a total of 25 variables were used and descriptive and multivariate analyses were made in order to highlight the regional disparities in child poverty. Principle components analysis conducted through the use of a deficit approach reveals that the variables closely related with education and health and nutrition were the critical dimensions behind child poverty in Turkey. The results of this study indicate that 22.4% of children in Turkey are poor when various dimensions of life are taken into account; the region with the highest child poverty is Central East Anatolia, at 34.9%, while the region with the lowest rate is East Marmara, at 15.6%.
... It has actively participated in international conferences and government exchanges and published documents and promoted policies -many aimed at reducing child poverty. Its report, Poverty reduction begins with children (UNICEF, 2000), was of prime concern at the special session of the UN General Assembly in Geneva in June 2000. The reports from the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre cover a wide range of research into child rights and development in both rich and poor countries, especially that affecting child poverty, including, for example, A league table of child poverty in rich nations (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2000), and extensive work on poverty in the transition economies and on the problems of child labour in India, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and the ramifying problems of children caught up in armed conflict. ...
... Its report, Poverty reduction begins with children (UNICEF, 2000), was of prime concern at the special session of the UN General Assembly in Geneva in June 2000. The reports from the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre cover a wide range of research into child rights and development in both rich and poor countries, especially that affecting child poverty, including, for example, A league table of child poverty in rich nations (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2000), and extensive work on poverty in the transition economies and on the problems of child labour in India, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and the ramifying problems of children caught up in armed conflict. ...
... Such deepening inequalities are sometimes even more pronounced in the industrialized countries where certain groups experience a quality of life inferior to that in the developing countries. Throughout the world i t is estimated that one child in six lives in poverty defined as a household with less than 50 per cent of the median household income in their country of residence (Roach, 2000;UNICEF, 2000;Mehrotra, et al., 2000) One in three women has been subjected t o physical or psychological abuse by her male companion or spouse (WHO, 2000). According to Sen (1999), a black man residing in New York, San Francisco, or Washington, D. C. has a shorter life expectancy than a man living in India or Pakistan. ...
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Telecommunications technologies and the Internet offer a revolution in management of global healthcare systems and sustainable development. This paper explores emergent telecommunications infrastructures and the ir consequences for the future of healthcare management using a scenario methodology. A world systems view from evolutionary economics provides a unique perspective on sustainable development. System performance on the dimensions of universal access, equitable resource allocation and consumer participation are evaluated in light of ideological, political and cultural considerations of governance. Alternative scenarios vary according to market dynamics led by healthcare institutions (push) or by consumer demand (pull), and according to system control mechanisms that may be technologically embedded, institutional or behavioural. The scenario analysis suggests that telecommunications technologies and the Internet may contribute significantly to improve global h ealthcare system performance, to manage ideological diversity and to reduce the wide inequities that separate the industrialized nations from the developing world.
... Nations differ in the benefits and supports they provide to families with children (Innocenti Research Centre, 2005). These have been documented but further inquiry needs to look at their effects upon those of different social locations. ...
Article
The insights provided by Gøsta Esping-Andersen’s Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism on the origins and characteristics of social democratic, conservative and liberal welfare states make explicit many of the political and economic structures and processes that can impact on health and create health inequalities. Broad stroke analysis of welfare state differences indicates social democratic welfare states may fare better at promoting health and limiting health inequalities in specific instances. This article builds on Esping-Andersen’s insights to theorize how differences in sectoral power across and within forms of welfare states can shape the resources and supports available to those occupying various social locations during important periods of the life-course. It also specifies the specific health outcomes of special relevance to those situated in vulnerable social locations across the life-course.
... Yet this bleak picture is not the case elsewhere. It is not surprising that nations where the quality of the social determinants of health is poor are those where intervention in marketplace operations is minimal (Innocenti Research Centre, 2005). In contrast, the nations with the highest-quality ...
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A structural approach to promoting mental health promotion involves developing public policy that will strengthen the social determinants of mental health. Canada is a laggard in developing and implementing such policies and, as a result, provisions for citizen security in general and the most vulnerable in particular lag behind many other wealthy developed nations. Much of this has to do with Canada's being identified as a liberal political economy where intervention in the operation of the market is minimal. Means by which these barriers can be overcome are examined.
... The balance of power among sectors differs among nations with resulting impacts on the distribution of the PrH/SDH (Raphael, 2013b). It has long been noted that public policy approaches of the Nordic nations of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden act such that the distribution of PrH/SDH is more equitable than in the Anglo-Saxon nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA (Navarro and Shi, 2002;Innocenti Research Centre, 2005;Health Council of Canada, 2010). [Denmark provides a conundrum for a welfare state analysis in that its life expectancy is very low in comparison with other wealthy developed nations. ...
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Despite evidence that public policy that equitably distributes the prerequisites/social determinants of health (PrH/SDH) is a worthy goal, progress in achieving such healthy public policy (HPP) has been uneven. This has especially been the case in nations where the business sector dominates the making of public policy. In response, various models of the policy process have been developed to create what Kickbusch calls a health political science to correct this situation. In this article I examine an aspect of health political science that is frequently neglected: the raw politics of power and influence. Using Canada as an example, I argue that aspects of HPP related to the distribution of key PrH/SDH are embedded within issues of power, influence, and competing interests such that key sectors of society oppose and are successful in blocking such HPP. By identifying these opponents and understanding why and how they block HPP, these barriers can be surmounted. These efforts to identify opponents of HPP that provide an equitable distribution of the PrH/SDH will be especially necessary where a nation's political economy is dominated by the business and corporate sector.
... However, the divergent development in material well-being of children and elderly that hase taken place, the aging of the population and, thus, of the electorate, and possibly increasing intergenerational inequities are general phenomena of most Western welfare states (see e.g. Rainwater 1999;UNICEF 2000;Förster and Pellizzari 2000;OECD 1996). may be imperative if a democratic deficit can be identified. ...
... Nations differ in the benefits and supports they provide to families with children (Innocenti Research Centre, 2005). These have been documented but further inquiry needs to look at their effects upon those of different social locations. ...
Article
The insights provided by Gøsta Esping-Andersen's Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism on the origins and characteristics of social democratic, conservative and liberal welfare states make explicit many of the political and economic structures and processes that can impact on health and create health inequalities. Broad stroke analysis of welfare state differences indicates social democratic welfare states may fare better at promoting health and limiting health inequalities in specific instances. This article builds on Esping-Andersen's insights to theorize how differences in sectoral power across and within forms of welfare states can shape the resources and supports available to those occupying various social locations during important periods of the life-course. It also specifies the specific health outcomes of special relevance to those situated in vulnerable social locations across the life-course.
... Political concern and participation are urgent practical matters. Many British children are born into poor economic circumstances by EU standards (UNICEF 2000) while the gap between rich and poor increases. Across comparative indicators of quality of life the UK fares poorly within Europe, for example on health (World Health Organization 2003). ...
... However, it may be easier for governments to affect income than other factors in the short term; and providing higher income may help to raise parents' expectations too. 33 Another recent study notes that some behavioural problems causing particular concern in many countries (including smoking, alcohol/drug use etc. among children and young people) do not always have such a close relationship with poverty -but they are often concentrated in disadvantaged areas. 34 These studies remind us that the relationship between income and other aspects of poverty and social exclusion is a complex one, and that multi-faceted policies are required to tackle them. ...
... The balance of power among sectors differs among nations with resulting impacts on the distribution of the social determinants of health (Raphael, 2013b). It has long been noted that public policy approaches of the social democratic nations of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden act such that the distribution of the social determinants of health is more equitable than in the Liberal nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.A. (Health Council of Canada, 2010;Innocenti Research Centre, 2005;Navarro & Shi, 2002). Denmark provides a conundrum for a welfare state analysis in that its life expectancy is very low in comparison to other wealthy developed nations. ...
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In this article key aspects of a political economy approach to addressing children’s health are identified. These aspects include a concern with how power and influence of various societal sectors come to shape the social determinants of children’s health through the creation of specific forms of public policy. These public policies affect children’s health through two primary pathways: shaping the social determinants of parents’ health and shaping specific social determinants of children’s health. These approaches cluster such that a worlds of welfare states approach can illuminate specific aspects of Canada’s approach to creating public policies that shape children’s health. Implications for promoting children’s health that derive from a political economy approach are presented.
... Indeed, UNICEF Canada produced a critical companion report to the Innocenti Report Card on the situation of Canadian children entitled Stuck in the Middle (UNICEF Canada, 2013). Numerous analyses show these rankings to be strongly determined by national public policy approaches concerned with families and children (Innocenti Research Centre, 2005. The primary dimension which seems beyond dispute is that nations that intervene in the operation of the market economy to provide families with the means (e.g., employment security and living wages, family benefits and entitlements, supports during periods of unemployment, disability, and illness) of living economically and socially secure lives -that is, the SDCH -are the ones whose children show better health and well-being outcomes (Esping-Andersen, 2002a). ...
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In 'Generations and Gender Programme: Exploring future research and data collection options'. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Population Fund. (New York and Geneva: United Nations): 1-57.
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A strong and consistent relationship has been observed between relative poverty and poor child health and wellbeing even among rich nations. This review set out to examine evidence that additional monies provided to poor or disadvantaged families may benefit children by reducing relative poverty and thereby improving children's health, well-being and educational attainment. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of direct provision of additional monies to socially or economically disadvantaged families in improving children's health, well-being and educational attainment SEARCH STRATEGY: In total 10 electronic databases were searched including the Cochrane library searched 2006 (Issue 1), Medline searched 1966 to May 2006 , Econlit searched 1969 to June 2006 and PsycINFO searched 1872 to June 2006, together with 3 libraries of working papers (MDRC, SSRN, SRDC). The general search strategy was [terms for income and financial benefits] and [paediatric terms] and [RCT filter] SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies selected provided money to relatively poor families (which included a child under the age of 18 or a pregnant woman), were randomised or quasi-randomised, measured outcomes related to child health or wellbeing and were conducted in a high income country. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Titles and abstracts identified in the search were independently assessed for eligibility by two reviewers. Data were extracted and entered into RevMan, synthesised and presented in both written and graphical form (forest plots). MAIN RESULTS: Nine trials including more than 25,000 participants were included in this review. No effect was observed on child health, measures of child mental health or emotional state. Non-significant effects favouring the intervention group were seen for child cognitive development and educational achievement, and a non-significant effect favouring controls in rates of teenage pregnancy. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: The review set out to examine the potential of financial support to poor families to improve circumstances for children. However, on the basis of current evidence we can not state unequivocally whether financial benefits delivered as an intervention are effective at improving child health or wellbeing in the short term. Our conclusions are limited by the fact that most of the studies had small effects on total household income and that while no conditions were attached to how money was spent, all studies included strict conditions for receipt of payments. We note particular concerns by some authors that sanctions and conditions (such as working hours) placed on families may increase family stress.
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My research examined the children of internally displaced Kurdish people, their educational aspirations, and child poverty and child labor, comparing conditions and outcomes in two cities, one in eastern, and the other in western Turkey.
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