Transcript Slide 1

"Children in the Risk of Poverty and Social
Exclusion. Challenges & 0pportunities"
Zagreb, 30. Nov 2010.
WHY WE CAN NOT AFFORD
CHILD POVERTY?
Judita Reichenberg
UNICEF Area Representative
WHY WE CAN NOT AFFORD CHILD POVERTY?
What is child poverty?
Income deprivation
Income deprivation + Constrained access to services
(severe deprivation in two or more basic needs of food, water,
sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information)
State of child Well-Being –based on CRC
Material and non-material dimensions of child well-being
WHY WE CAN NOT AFFORD CHILD POVERTY?
The measuring and monitoring of child well-being includes both material and nonmaterial aspects.
MATERIAL dimension
NON-MATERIAL dimension
• Income
• Education
• Material deprivation
• Health
• Housing
• Exposure to risk and risk
behavior
• Labor market attachment
of the members of the
child’s household
CHILD
WELL-BEING
• Social participation and
relationships, family
environment
• Local environment
“Child Poverty and child well-being in the European Union”, Report for EC, Tarki Social Research Institute,
Applica, January 2010.
Poverty in the region
At risk of poverty rate: children compared to total populations
35
30
25
20
15
10
Total population
Children (0-17)
5
0
Source: SILC, EU (2008),
FBH Federal Office of
Statistics, Statistical
Office of the Republic of
Serbia
WHY WE CAN NOT AFFORD CHILD POVERTY?
Child Poverty and Infant Mortality in the Region
Infant Mortality Rate 2008
(per 1,000 live births)
16
14
Albania
BiH
Romania
12
10
TFYR Macedonia
Bulgaria
8
Montenegro
6
Serbia
4
Croatia
2
Slovenia
0
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
Gross National Income (2008)
per capita (constant 2008 PPP US$)
25,000
30,000
Impact of child poverty
• Health – physical and mental health problems, risk of
severe, long term and life-limiting illness
• Education – low educational attainment and skill levels
• Employment – low status and unsecure employment,
worklessness and low levels of employability
• Behavior- inhibiting and anti-social behavior, crime,
substance misuse
• Relationships- family difficulties, child abuse,
friendships and social isolation, future family formation
• Subjective well-being- shame, stigma, lack of
autonomy and low self esteem
WHY WE CAN NOT AFFORD CHILD POVERTY?
The economic costs of child poverty – case of UK
(Hirsch, D. 2008)
Children in
Families with low
incomes
£25
BILLION
TOTAL
Current cash transfers
not included!
1. Worse outcomes
in education,
health, etc.
A. Social spending
aiming to
ameliorate these
effects
2. Persistence of worse
outcomes later in life,
despite interventions
B. Future impact on
social spending, and
economic costs of
poor labor market outcomes
£12 billion
£13 billion
£8 billion
Lost earnings to individuals
£5 billion
Benefit bill, lost tax and NI
WHY WE CAN NOT AFFORD CHILD POVERTY?
Ending child poverty seems straightforward…
1. Agreement on what societies should do to prevent
and eradicate child poverty and social exclusion:
a. Start early - ECD
b. Ensure quality inclusive education
c. Ensure access to continuum of quality health
services
d. Provide social security- cash transfers and
services for children and their families
…. however, many challenges remain
• How to avoid additional constrains created by the
short term economic crisis and longer term economic
restructuring?
• Resources are not limitless. How to make choices?
• Every policy has a social impact. But are we aware of
it?
• What about potential synergy in inter-sectoral coordination?
• And what about the voice of the “voiceless”?
THANK YOU!