Professional Documents
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FEBRUARY 2011
UNICEF POLICY AND PRACTICE
2 UNICEF
Figure 1. Multidimensional Child Poverty and Income Poverty: A Country Comparison
(Source: UNICEF Global Study on Child Poverty
database).
100
90
When measuring income poverty, the most 80
70
commonly used indicator is $1.25 a day, where 60
50
someone is considered poor if his or her income 40
30
level falls below that level. In the graph on the
20
right, the blue and green bars represent the 10
0
percentage of children in each country that %
Niger
Laos
Mali
OPT
India
Egypt
Malawi
Nigeria
Nepal
Burundi
Zambia
Yemen
Ghana
Pakistan
Senegal
Bolivia
Bhutan
Jamaica
Ukraine
Tanzania
Kyrgyzstan
Congo, DR
Cambodia
Cameroon
Mongolia
Nicaragua
Morocco
Vietnam
Thailand
Madagascar
Zimbabwe
Congo, Rep
Uzbekistan
Sierra Leone
Bangladesh
Philippines
experience moderate and severe deprivations
respectively, while the orange line represents All $1.25 figures are from 2004 - 2006, besides Tanzania (2000),
Children experiencing 2 or more moderate deprivations
the percentage of people in each country Cameroon (2001), Lao (2002), Mongolia (2002), Bhutan, Uzbeki-
Children experiencing 2 or more severe deprivations stan and Sierra Leone (2003) and Morocco (2007). Source: World
who are income poor according to the $1.25 Population living below $1.25/day Bank Data/UNICEF Global Study on Child Poverty Database
a day poverty line (while recognizing that for
some countries the data for income poverty Figure 2. Multidimensionality: Comparing GDP per capita and Child
and multidimensional child poverty are from Poverty Headcounts
different years). In general the multidimensional 5,000 100%
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frameworks – which will enable the identification Figure 4. Egypt: Children severely deprived - by region
of the most effective and relevant policy 80
responses needed to address these outcomes.
60
% 40
NATIONAL AVERAGES: INEQUITIES
CONCEALED 20
0
The analysis has thus far focused on national
averages for the 36 countries in the sample. For
certain middle-income countries, the deprivation
approach to child poverty defined by severe
Shelter Sanitation Water Information
thresholds, may not be adequate. For example,
Food Education Health
in Egypt 4 per cent of children experience two or
more severe deprivations and in Thailand 2 per
Figure 5. Thailand: Children experiencing severe deprivations by wealth quintile
cent of children experience two or more severe and ethnicity
deprivations.
100
76
80 63
However, when undertaking analysis at the sub 62
60
national level, a number of disparities emerge.
40 29 30
In Egypt, poverty among children is highly 23 20
17 16 13 16 14
20 5 11 10 50
concentrated in rural areas, and in particular in 1 1 0 50 2 0
the rural area of Upper Egypt (UE) where 10 per 0
%
Thai
Laos
Other
China
Poorest
Middle
Fourth
Richest
Second
Hill tribe
Myanmar
Cambodia
cent of the children experience two or more
severe deprivations and 40 per cent of children
are shelter deprived, while only 1 per cent of
Wealth index quintiles Ethnicity
children in urban Lower Egypt (LE) are shelter
deprived. Children experiencing at least 1 severe deprivation
Source: UNICEF Global Study
Children experiencing at least 2 severe deprivations database
Similarly in Thailand, great disparities are
revealed when looking at severe deprivations DEPRIVATION OF EMOTIONAL
by wealth quintiles and by ethnicity. While only RESOURCES: UNDERSTANDING
2 per cent of children experience 2 or more POVERTY FROM A CHILD’S
severe deprivations on average, 23 per cent of PERSPECTIVE
children from the Hill tribe are poor and 0 per
cent of children from Laos and Chinese ethnicity Multidimensional child poverty measures need
are considered poor. Likewise, 5 per cent of the to take spiritual and emotional deprivations into
children from the poorest quintile experience 2 account; however quantifying emotional deprivation
or more severe deprivations, while none of the is a complex task and this dimension is often
children from the richest quintiles experience overlooked. As a first step, a number of countries
severe deprivations. These numbers illustrate an participating in the Global Study on Child Poverty
important message; one needs to look beyond and Disparities conducted qualitative research
national averages to address intra-country to gain insight into whether the data accurately
inequities in order to reach the most deprived reflected the plight of children living in poverty, as
families. well as attempted to address how being deprived of
basic needs affects their emotional well-being.
6 UNICEF
the poor has increased, social benefits are Children suffering from two or more severe
provided to disabled children and so forth. deprivations often experience cumulative
However, these social safeguards are inadequate disadvantages and special attention needs to
and insufficiently targeted as evidenced by be paid to these children and their families. This
13 per cent of children in the Batken region Brief emphasizes the importance of gaining a
experiencing two or more severe deprivations holistic understanding of the underlying reasons
as opposed to 1 per cent in the Chui region to these poor child outcomes. This Brief also opens
(National Study on Child Poverty and Disparities up opportunities for further analysis, with the
in the Kyrgyz Republic, 2009). primary hypothesis that countries that implement
holistic policies/strategies that address the
Policy design and implementation are key factors multidimensionality of child poverty are likely to be
in ensuring that children benefit from policies more successful in advancing children’s rights and
aimed at improving child well-being. These well-being rather than countries with piecemeal
policies may include, among others: free/low cost strategies.
basic health care services, maternity benefits and
the availability of low-cost childcare that enables Selected References
both parents to work. National priorities need to
reflect strong linkages between these policies 1. Delamonica, E., Minujin, A., Davidziuk, A.,
and child well-being, as well as monitoring of & Gonzalez, E.D. (2006). Children living
progress and impact. Social protection measures in poverty: Overview of definitions,
are increasingly gaining recognition as successful measurements and policy. UNICEF
tools in reducing child poverty as these measures Working paper. New York. www.unicef.org/
commonly address social vulnerability and take policyanalysis/files/Children_Liv¬ing_In_
into account the inter-relationship between Poverty.pdf
exclusion and poverty. 2. Fajth, G. and K. Holland Child Poverty: A
perspective. UNICEF DPP Working Papers
The analysis has also indicated that a high GDP 2007. www.unicef.org/videoaudio/PDFs/
per capita is not necessarily directly associated Poverty_and_Children_a_Perspective.pdf
with low levels of child poverty, and likewise a 3. Gordon, D., Nandy, S., Pantazis, C., Pemberton,
low GDP per capita is not necessarily associated S. and Townsend, P. (2003). Child poverty in
with high levels of child poverty. Looking at the developing world. The Policy Press, Bristol.
countries with similar levels of GDP we see www.bristol.ac.uk/poverty/child poverty.html
highly disparate rates of child poverty which 4. UNDP (2004). Dollar a day, how much does it
can be explained by varied investments and say? In Focus - International Poverty Centre for
policies that benefit children. For example, both Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), Brasilia
Tanzania and Uzbekistan - which are low income www.ipc-undp.org/pub.do#inf
economies, who have historically prioritised 5. UNDP (2010) Human Development Report.
social investments - post far better child well- The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to
being indicators than their GDP would imply. On Human Development
the other hand Tanzania’s high rate of income http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_
poverty (89 per cent of people live below the EN_Complete_reprint.pdf
$1.25 poverty line) also provides a case in point 6. UNICEF (2005) Childhood under Threat: State
that it is critical for social investments to be of the World’s Children 2005. UNICEF NY
complemented with income enhancing policies. www.unicef.org/
7. UNICEF (2010) Child Poverty and Disparities
UNICEF DPP notes are prepared to facilitate greater exchange of knowledge and stimulate analytical discussion on social policy
issues. Their findings, interpretations and conclusions do not necessarily reflect the policies or view of UNICEF. The designations
in this publication do not imply an opinion on legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or the delimitation
of frontiers. The editors of the series are Isabel Ortiz, Gaspar Fajth and David Anthony of the Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge
Management section. For more information on the series, or to submit a working brief, please contact iortiz@unicef.org, gfajth@
unicef.org or danthony@unicef.org.
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