What is child poverty?
Poverty broadly refers to “pronounced deprivation in well-being”, and is most widely measured in monetary terms, that is households having insufficient income to purchase the minimum goods and services they need to survive and thrive. Children are considered poor if they’re living in households whose consumption falls short of this threshold. This threshold differs in each country, depending on the standard of living, prices of goods, and other factors. In lower- and middle-income countries, absolute poverty lines are commonly used, while in richer countries, poverty is usually defined relatively, in comparison to the economic status of other members of the society. The World Bank sets the international extreme poverty line at 2011 PPP $1.90 per person per day, and has higher poverty lines at 2011 PPP $3.20 and $5.50, for lower-middle and upper-middle-income countries.
But poverty is about more than income to purchase goods and services, poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon and manifests itself in poor nutrition, poor health, poor education and limited capability to maintain livelihoods or participate in society. For children, the multidimensional aspects of poverty are especially important as deprivation in early life puts them at a disadvantage throughout their life affecting their health and capacities, increases vulnerability to exploitation and abuse and limits future prospects, which further harms communities and societies. For instance, childrenfrom the poorest householdsare twice as likely to die before reaching age 5, compared to their richer peers.Child poverty can also alter the trajectory of societies and economies.In Guatemala,children who receivedearlynutritioninterventionswere likely toearnmuchhigher wagescompared to those whodidn’t, indicatingthepotential ofmultidimensionalchild poverty reduction to drive long term economic growth.
Recognizing this, in 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a definition of child poverty as the following:
“Children living in poverty are deprived of nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, access to basic health-care services, shelter, education, participation and protection, and that while a severe lack of goods and services hurts every human being, it is most threatening and harmful to children, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, to reach their full potential and to participate as full members of the society”.
How is child poverty measured?
Measurement provides critical information about the nature of child poverty, its extent and depth, and helps monitor the impact of existing anti-poverty interventions. Child poverty can be measured using monetary and multidimensional approaches, and both measurements are required under SDG monitoring.
Monetary child poverty measurement: Monetary measures (measured based on household income or consumption) count children as poor if they’re living in households below a set poverty line.
Multidimensional child poverty measurement: Multidimensional measures can provide a fuller picture of poverty as they capture non-income aspects of poverty such as malnutrition, ill health and poor living conditions faced by children. Children are considered to be living in poverty if they’re deprived in critical areas such as nutrition, education, health and housing.
What’s the difference between international poverty lines and national poverty lines?
A poverty line, also called a poverty threshold, is the line below which it is difficult, if not impossible, to afford basic needs, which is either determined by a country, based on costs of basic needs and income, or calculated through international standards.
National poverty lines are either absolute poverty lines calculated as the minimum income required to meet basic calorie intake and other non-food goods or relative poverty lines, defined in reference to the overall distribution of a country’s income or consumption. Relative poverty lines frequently define people as poor if their household income is below a certain percentage of the median income of that country, and they are commonly used in higher-income countries.
The international poverty line – an absolute poverty line – (for example, the extreme poverty line of $1.90 per day per person) is set by the World Bank, with reference to the national poverty lines in some of the poorest countries, to measure the population living in extreme poverty. As differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the global poverty line has to be periodically updated to reflect these changes. Since the first estimation in 1990 that formed the dollar-a-day poverty line, the value was updated.
Similarly, there are international and national versions of multidimensional poverty measures. For instance, the global MPI applies a uniform structure to allow for comparability across countries, whereas national and regional measures define their structure according to deprivations considered to be most relevant to their context. Similarly, the N-MODA is a tailored version of the MODA approach, adopting country specific definitions of deprivation and providing more in-depth analysis appropriate for the country context.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals, and how do they address child poverty?
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries in a global partnership. Goal 1 focuses on reducing poverty in all its forms everywhere, which includes children in its targets and indicators.
Target 1.2 focuses on reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions, with indicators such as the proportion of the population living below the national poverty line disaggregated by age.
Target 1.3 asks countries to track the percentage of the population covered by social protection floors/systems, distinguishing children.
This global mandate requires member states to report on progress on reducing the poverty of children and creates an opportunity for stakeholders engaged in the fight against child poverty to engage in national processes to achieve this goal.
For the first time, there is an explicit commitment that all countries measure all dimensions of child poverty and strengthen policies and programs, including child-sensitive social protection, to meet the child poverty reduction goal by 2030. Therefore, the SDGs offer a tremendous opportunity for countries to take action and respond to child poverty. The Global Coalition to End Child Poverty have produced a comprehensive guide that collects experiences and approaches from around the world to support policymakers, practitioners and advocates, as they work towards achieving the SDG child poverty targets.
