04/10/2022
Child poverty
Children are more likely to live in poverty than adults. They’re also more vulnerable to its effects.
In recent years, the world has made remarkable strides advancing development. Yet, more than 700 million people still live in extreme poverty. Children are disproportionately affected. Despite comprising one third of the global population, they represent half of those struggling to survive on less than $1.90 a day.
Children who grow up impoverished often lack the food, sanitation, shelter, health care and education they need to survive and thrive. Across the world, about 1 billion children are multidimensionally poor, meaning they lack necessities as basic as nutrition or clean water. Some 100 million additional children have been plunged into multidimensional poverty due to COVID-19.
An estimated 356 million children live in extreme poverty.
The consequences are grave. Worldwide, the poorest children are twice as likely to die in childhood than their wealthier peers. For those growing up in humanitarian crises, the risks of deprivation and exclusion surge. Even in the world’s richest countries, one in seven children still live in poverty. Today, one in four children in the European Union are at risk of falling into poverty.
No matter where they are, children who grow up impoverished suffer from poor living standards, develop fewer skills for the workforce, and earn lower wages as adults.
Yet, only a limited number of Governments have set the elimination of child poverty as a national priority.