Transcript Child Poverty Study in Ukraine: Concept, Analysis of the Situation and Policies Cherenko Liudmyla, Institute for Demography and Social Research.

Child Poverty Study in Ukraine:
Concept,
Analysis of the Situation and
Policies
Cherenko Liudmyla,
Institute for Demography and
Social Research
Key data on the population and economic
development of Ukraine for 2007
Population, thousand
46,329
Number of children under 18, thousand
8,545
GDP per capita, thousand UAH
15.3
Real GDP growth (% to the previous year)
107.3
Budget expenditures, million UAH:
for education (plan for 2007)
for healthcare (plan for 2007)
38,145
21,853
for social protection (for 2006)
11,181
Average salary, UAH per month
Minimal salary, UAH per month
1,351
430
Subsistence level, UAH per month
518.5
Measuring poverty
2 official criteria for measuring poverty
• National criterion – relative – 75 % of the
median level of gross equivalent
expenditures, adopted in 2001
• Subsistence level as a basis for setting state
social guarantees for different sociodemographic groups – absolute criterion, in
force since 2000
Measuring poverty at the Government level
%
(as of 2006)
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
40,7
35,3
28,1
33
Poverty
rate
(total)
Poverty
rate f or
children
National line
(re lative )
Substance
minimum
(absolute line )
Families with many children and families with
children under 3 are particularly vulnerable
to poverty
Poverty rate (national line)
80
Families with 3
and more children
70
60
50
%
40
30
20
10
0
Families with
children under 3
Families with
children under 3
and other children
All families with
children
Poverty in Ukraine in different dimensions: basic
trends in 1999-2006
удельный вес расходов
на питание выше 60%
общих расходов
80
70
суточный рацион
менее 2100 кКал
60
%
50
потребление ниже
прожиточного
минимума
40
30
расходы ниже 75%
медианного уровня
20
10
0
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
расходы ниже 60%
медианного уровня
Poverty by living conditions is an acute
problem for Ukraine
• Some 70 % of households with children live in houses or apartments
where the total number of rooms is fewer than the number of
household members, and 15 % live in conditions where there are
more than 2 persons per room;
• Almost every second household with children does not have simple
utilities in their accommodation (gas and water supply, sewage
system)
• Deprivation by the most basic and important durable goods
(refrigerator, colour TV set, washing machine) is 17.3 per cent for
households with children;
• Transport accessibility of schools, hospitals, social services etc. is
the most acute problem for rural areas;
• Overall low level of quality of education and medical services in rural
areas
Conclusions of the situation analysis
• Absolute poverty defined in terms of monetary
approaches is constantly decreasing. However
the indicator values for families with children
visibly exceed average values and remain high.
• The situation with relative poverty remains
practically unchanged since 1999. At the same
time the indicator values for families with
children are constantly 2 times higher than the
values for households without children.
• Poverty by living conditions turns out to be
especially acute problem for families with
children as it reflects the limited access to quality
social services.
Methodology of the Study
The methodology is based on two approaches to
defining poverty:
 Monetary poverty (on the basis of incomes,
expenditures or resources);
 Poverty by opportunities or by living conditions
Methodology of the Study
• Monetary poverty has to be analysed on the basis of
absolute and relative criteria (with due regard to the
current situation analysis)
• Assessment of poverty by living conditions has to
embrace all components relevant to the country
situation and all components relevant to children
• The intersection of the two dimensions of poverty
(monetary and by living conditions) will allow to
define the core – the group of vulnerable children
most at risk of poverty
• The comparison of the scopes of different poverty
manifestations among children and among the general
population will allow to define the sources of
children’s vulnerability.
Key National Social Programmes for Children
• Child Nutrition
• Health
• Education
• No targeted programmes at the
national level –child nutrition is a
component of general programmes;
child nutrition programmes exist only at
the local level.
• Free medical services for all
categories of children (the programme
is effective in general and the existing
problems are linked to the need to
reform the healthcare system)
• Compulsory secondary education (the
programme is effective in general but
there is a problem of unequal access to
quality education by different groups of
population)
Key National Social Programmes for Children
• Child
Protection
• Social
Protection
• Support to crisis families (there is a problem of
assessing the quality and results of this service)
• «Money Follows the Child» (progressive system
of Government support to orphaned children and
children left without parental care; the
implementation term is insufficient to assess the
programme effectiveness)
• Support to low-income families (based on the
principles of targeting specific population; at the
moment the programme does not show high
effectiveness – only 38% of the overall amount paid
reaches the first three deciles)
• System of child allowances (at birth, for caring for
children under 3, for single mothers, for children
with special needs etc.)
Assessment of national policies on increasing child birth
allowances in 2005-2006
Бедность среди семей с детьми до 3-х лет
60
All families
with children
under 3
50
%
40
30
Families with a
child under 3
and other
children
20
10
Total,
households
with children
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Availability of information and
methodological limitations
• Key problem – lack of information on access
to healthcare, education, recreation etc.
services by different categories of children
• Insufficient statistical information collected by
line ministries – Ministry of Health, Ministry
of Education, Ministry of Family, Youth and
Sport
• Policy analysis methodology (for assessing
social services, social protection and social
policy in general) not sufficiently developed
Proposed potential solutions to information and
methodological problems
• Development and introduction of an additional
module on children to the basic household living
conditions survey of the SSCU
• Application of the policy analysis methodology
developed specifically for the Study by the Institute
of Demography
Issues for discussion
• What criteria are to be taken as basic for Ukraine
when assessing absolute and relative monetary
poverty;
• What monetary criteria will be used for international
comparisons
• What aspects of poverty by living conditions are to be
considered within comparisons with other countries
• What national programmes are more important to
analyse – short-term targeted programmes or longterm large-scale programmes