69 million children in 'rich' countries living in poverty: UNICEF

On Wednesday (Dec 6), the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) released a disturbing report on the state of poverty among children globally.

More than one in five, or around 69 million children, live in poverty, that too just in the world's 40 richest countries.

A childhood spent in poverty

The high numbers, as per AFP, are despite an around 8 per cent drop in child poverty rates from 2012 to 2014 and 2019 to 2021. The drop was witnessed in the 40 European Union and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries assessed.

Despite that, at the end of 2021, more than 69 million were still living in poverty in those countries, as per the report.

As per UNICEF Innocenti, the United Nations agency's research arm, "This is equivalent to around 6 million children out of a total child population of 291 million."

"For most children, this means that they may grow up without enough nutritious food, clothes, school supplies or a warm place to call home," said Bo Viktor Nylund of UNICEF Innocenti.

Highlighting the impact of such struggles on young people's physical and mental health, the report called for action to ensure children's well-being. Evoking political will, it stressed that children aren't automatically lifted out of poverty by a country's wealth.

Main observations

The data, as per AFP, is based on relative poverty — around 60 per cent of a country's national median income — which is often used by developed countries to establish their poverty levels.

Blasting Britain and France for their particularly bad standings, UNICEF reported that since 2012, the biggest setbacks have been witnessed in the richest countries. While in Britain there were half a million or 19.6 per cent more poor children, in France the numbers increased by 10.4 per cent.

As per the report, in the European Union, children of non-EU nationality parents are 2.4 times more likely to live in poverty.

While the United States saw a 6.7 per cent decrease in the number of children living in poverty, it still means that one in four children continues to live in relative poverty.

There was a greater risk of poverty among children from single-parent families and minority backgrounds. Among the minorities in the US, 30 per cent of African American children and 29 per cent of Native American children live below the national poverty line. In comparison, only 10 per cent or one-in-10 non-Hispanic white children face the hardships that come with being poor.