One result of the global recession has been the increase in child poverty in developed countries.
Unicef reports that the rate has gone up in more than half of the developed world since 2008, bringing the total number of children there in poverty to an estimated 76.5 million.
Increased unemployment has denied a greater number of children access to basic nutrition, material needs and education. Unicef fears they will be trapped in a limbo of lasting vulnerability.
Even short periods of poverty in critical years of children’s development can have life-long consequences
Before the Great Recession, social programmes in some countries had reduced child poverty, but austerity measures in many nations had a negative impact on children, especially in the Mediterranean region.
Greece and Ireland had the biggest percentage increases in child poverty since 2008, followed by Latvia, Spain, and Croatia. The rate in Greece jumped from 23% to 40.5%.
Latvia and Spain also have rates above 36% and the school dropout rate is nearly 25%.
The proportion of children living in poverty in the UK increased from 24% to 25.6%. In the US, the rate is 32%.
Of the 41 countries reviewed by the agency, child poverty increased in 23, but fell in 18. Norway has the lowest child poverty rate, at 5.3% (down from 9.6% in 2008), while the greatest decline was in Chile which has seen a reduction from 31.4% to 22.8%.
Poland and Slovakia also managed a marked decline.
Young adults have arguably been the hardest hit by the recession, according to the report, with 7.5 million within the EU not in education, employment or training – nearly a million more than in 2008.
