June 16, 2012
UNICEF recently published a report called “Measuring Child Poverty”, which analyzes data on child deprivation and relative child poverty as to 35 countries it classifies as the world’s richest. This report is part of a multi-part research series on children’s well-being throughout the world.
The countries examined include the following: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.
On the list measuring the percentage of children living in relative poverty in each of the countries, the United States ranked second highest. The United States also ranked highest as to the “poverty gap”, a measurement of the gap between the poverty line and the incomes of those below the poverty line.
According to the report’s author, Peter Adamson, nations that are failing to maintain their children’s economic well being are failing their most vulnerable as well as storing up future social and economic problems for the years ahead.
I think this data indicates a sad reality about priorities in the United States.
You can read the full text of the UNICEF report here: Measuring Child Poverty, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Report Card 10.