Nearly 385 million children living in extreme poverty, says joint ...

Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children finds that in 2013 19.5 per cent of children in developing countries were living in households that survived on an ... Skiptomaincontent SearchUNICEF Fulltextsearch Max Pressrelease Nearly385millionchildrenlivinginextremepoverty,saysjointWorldBankGroup–UNICEFstudy 03October2016 Availablein:EnglishFrançaisEspañol UNICEF/UNI86236/Ramoneda NEWYORK,3October2016–Childrenaremorethantwiceaslikelyasadultstoliveinextremepoverty,accordingtoanewanalysisfromtheWorldBankGroupandUNICEF.EndingExtremePoverty:AFocusonChildrenfindsthatin201319.5percentofchildrenindevelopingcountrieswerelivinginhouseholdsthatsurvivedonanaverageofUS$1.90adayorlessperperson,comparedtojust9.2percentofadults. Globally,almost385millionchildrenwerelivinginextremepoverty. Childrenaredisproportionatelyaffected,astheymakeuparoundathirdofthepopulationstudied,buthalfoftheextremepoor.Theyoungestchildrenarethemostatrisk–withmorethanone-fifthofchildrenundertheageoffiveinthedevelopingworldlivinginextremelypoorhouseholds. “Childrenarenotonlymorelikelytobelivinginextremepoverty;theeffectsofpovertyaremostdamagingtochildren. Theyaretheworstoffoftheworstoff–andtheyoungestchildrenaretheworstoffofall,becausethedeprivationstheysufferaffectthedevelopmentoftheirbodiesandtheirminds,”saidUNICEFExecutiveDirectorAnthonyLake.“Itisshockingthathalfofallchildreninsub-SaharanAfricaandoneinfivechildrenindevelopingcountriesaregrowingupinextremepoverty. Thisnotonlylimitstheirfutures,itdragsdowntheirsocieties.” ThenewanalysiscomesontheheelsofthereleaseoftheWorldBankGroup’snewflagshipstudy,PovertyandSharedProsperity2016:TakingonInequality,whichfoundthatsome767millionpeoplegloballywerelivingonlessthan$1.90perdayin2013,halfofthemundertheageof18. “Thesheernumberofchildreninextremepovertypointstoarealneedtoinvestspecificallyintheearlyyears—inservicessuchaspre-natalcareforpregnantmothers,earlychildhooddevelopmentprograms,qualityschooling,cleanwater,goodsanitation,anduniversalhealthcare,”saidAnaRevenga,SeniorDirector,PovertyandEquityattheWorldBankGroup.“Improvingtheseservices,andensuringthattoday’schildrencanaccessqualityjobopportunitieswhenthetimecomes,istheonlywaytobreakthecycleofintergenerationalpovertythatissowidespreadtoday.” Theglobalestimateofextremechildpovertyisbasedondatafrom89countries,representing83percentofthedevelopingworld’spopulation. Sub-SaharanAfricahasboththehighestratesofchildrenlivinginextremepovertyatjustunder50percent,andthelargestshareoftheworld’sextremelypoorchildren,atjustover50percent. SouthAsiahasthesecondhighestshareatnearly36percent—withover30percentofextremelypoorchildrenlivinginIndiaalone.Morethanfouroutoffivechildreninextremepovertyliveinruralareas.   Inaddition,thereportrevealsthatevenathigherthresholds,povertyalsoaffectschildrendisproportionately. About45percentofchildrenarelivinginhouseholdssubsistingonlessthan$3.10adayperperson,comparedwithnearly27percentofadults. UNICEFandtheWorldBankGrouparecallingongovernmentsto: • Routinelymeasurechildpovertyatthenationalandsubnationallevelandfocusonchildreninnationalpovertyreductionplansaspartofeffortstoendextremepovertyby2030. • Strengthenchild-sensitivesocialprotectionsystems,includingcashtransferprogramsthatdirectlyhelppoorfamiliestopayforfood,healthcare,educationandotherservicesthatprotectchildrenfromtheimpactofpovertyandimprovetheirchancesofbreakingthecycleintheirownlives.   • Prioritizeinvestmentsineducation,health,cleanwater,sanitationandinfrastructurethatbenefitthepoorestchildren,aswellasthosethathelppreventpeoplefromfallingbackintopovertyaftersetbackslikedroughts,diseaseoreconomicinstability.   • Shapepolicydecisionssothateconomicgrowthbenefitsthepoorestchildren.  UNICEFandtheWorldBankGroupareworkingwithpartnerstointerruptcyclesofpovertyandtopromoteearlychildhooddevelopment-withprogramsrangingfromcashtransfers,tonutrition,healthcareandeducation. ### Mediacontacts UNICEFMediaTeam Tel:+12123037984 Email:[email protected] AboutUNICEF UNICEFworksinsomeoftheworld’stoughestplaces,toreachtheworld’smostdisadvantagedchildren.Across190countriesandterritories,weworkforeverychild,everywhere,tobuildabetterworldforeveryone. FollowUNICEFonTwitterandFacebook Relatedtopics Poverty Global Moretoexplore Pressrelease 19March2022 PolioimmunisationcampaignbeginsinfourcountriesaftercaseconfirmedinMalawi–UNICEF Visitthepage Article Waterandtheclimatecrisis:10thingsyoushouldknow Theworldneedstogetwatersmart.Everyonehasaroletoplay,andwecannotaffordtowait Readthestory PhotoEssay Theunsungheroesofthepandemic Extraordinarypeoplearegoingaboveandbeyondtoservetheircommunities. Seethestory Pressrelease 09March2022 Twothirdsofhouseholdswithchildrenhavelostincomeduringpandemic Visitthepage