How should we measure child poverty?

This ProgBlog article written by Robbie Lawrence, Wikichild Coordinator, is part of the Wikiprogress Post-2015 series.

“Children living in poverty experience deprivation of the material, spiritual, and emotional resources needed to survive, develop and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential or participate as full and equal members of society” (UNICEF, 2005)

As many of you will know, we are currently running an online consultation* entitled “Reducing poverty is achievable: Finding those who are hidden by inequalities” on the Wikiprogress platform. The comments we have had up to this point have been interesting and diverse, ranging from practical suggestions for tackling inequalities in the new Post 2015 framework to personal reflections on how the problem affects the lives of everyday people around the world. This article will first assess the dangers inequalities pose to children and then provide an analysis of current methods of measuring child poverty referencing UNICEF’s ‘Child Poverty and Inequality – New Perspectives’ report, published in 2012.

In late January 2013, at the Third High Level Meeting on advancing a Post 2015 Development Agenda, Prof Gita Sen stipulated that the forum should give special attention to the most vulnerable people, in particular children, youth and adolescents. Save the Children’s report ‘Born Equal: How reducing inequality could give our children a better future’ shows that children bear the brunt of inequality, demonstrating that in some cases children born into the richest households have access to 35 times the resources of the poorest.

Children as a group experience the detriments of poverty differently from adults. While an adult may suffer poverty over a certain period, falling into poverty during childhood can alter a person’s life indefinitely – ‘rarely does a child get a second chance at an education or a healthy start in life.’ (New Perspectives, page 1) EFA’s Global Monitoring Report stresses that early childhood is the 'critical period' in which the foundations for success in education and beyond should be put in place. Even short periods of malnutrition threaten a child’s ability to grow physically and intellectually, impacting their long-term development.

It is important to emphasize that while on a micro level, inequality impedes the right of every child to have an equal chance to survive and thrive, widening disparities in income have been shown to compromise a country's economic growth, damage well-being outcomes and threaten poverty reduction. Child poverty endangers not only the individual, but it is likely to spread to future generations, entrenching and perpetuating inequality in society (New Perspectives, page 1).

Despite the considerable progress of the Millennium Development Goals, there remain major questions over the current framework’s ability to reach those who most need help. In the opening chapter of ‘New Perspectives’, Alberto Minujin discusses why child poverty should be measured separately from adult poverty.  He argues that the standardized monetary approach to identifying and gauging poverty should be replaced by multidisciplinary methods to provide a more accurate picture of the specific detriments that face disadvantaged children.

A strong example of why the monetary approach is limited can be seen in the widespread malnutrition currently affecting Indian children. While India has experienced exponential growth over the last decade, there has been little progress made in improving nutrition. Stunting rates have remained high and almost half of children under five are malnourished, a statistic that the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decried as a “national shame.” (EFA, 43)

Minujin focuses the bulk of his chapter on identifying new and progressive methods of defining and measuring child destitution, from the Bristol deprivation model which not only aims to quantify the extent of child poverty but also the depth of child poverty to the Young Lives project which seeks to understand its causes and consequences. It is his opinion that by combing different methods, policy makers and organisations will be able to apply a multifocal approach to tackling inequalities. Arguably, only by shifting attention to those who have not benefited from the MDG program will its aims be fully achieved. As one contributor in our online discussion stated,

‘Let us please keep in mind those that are so easily falling through the cracks…the main thing we can do in a next round of goals is to concentrate on the most vulnerable.’

The Wikiprogress online consultation closes this  Friday 15 March. You can post a comment in a few clicks by going to the “Contribute!” section of the online consultation page. Make sure your voice is heard. 

Robbie Lawrence

Wikichild Coordinator 
@Wiki_child

Wikichild Blog Catch Up - 2012

Hi Everyone,

2012 has been an exciting year for Wikichild and we decided to wrap it up by blogging a selection of  child related articles from the last 12 months. Enjoy!

Rapid urbanization is leaving millions of disadvantaged children behind by guest blogger James Elder of UNICEF - March 5th

Kids in High Poverty Communities: 5 Ways it Affects us all by Laura Speer is the Associate Director for Policy Reform and Data at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore Maryland, USA - March 15th

The Arab Knowledge Report 2010/2011: Why focusing on Arab children and youth is necessary for the future of the region by Hannah Chadwick - Former Wikichild consultant - 6 April 

“I am fighting for my future” by Hannah Chadwick - 19 June 

Early stimulation and micronutrients interventions: the next frontiers to break the cycle of child poverty by Christelle Chapoy, 3ie International Initiative for Impact Evaluation - 13  July 

The Child Development Index 2012 by Alex Cobham, Save the Children - 19 July 

The Global Whole Child by Sean Slade, ASCD the Whole Child - 8 August

A Kony 2012 for Syria??? by Hannah Chadwick - 19 August 

Education for All - A Focus on Nutrition by Robbie Lawrence, Wikichild Coordinator - 1st November

The threat of inequality to children by Robbie Lawrence - 20 November 

Thank you to all who have followed us in 2012 and stay tuned for a diverse and interesting range of Child Well-being blogs in the new year. 

Robbie Lawrence 

Wikichild Coordinator 

@Wiki_child

@robbielawrence1

The threat of inequality to children

Migrant families pitch camp next to a railway line in Delhi, while they look for work, India. ©Raghu Rai:Magnum for Save the Children

As a group that are often the most vulnerable to poverty and its detriments, children were a central focus when the Millennium Development Goals were implemented in 2000.

The eight goal plan adopted by World leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in New York has arguably been a success, having facilitated huge progress in dealing with a number of the world's biggest challenges.

In the last decade, the number of people suffering from extreme poverty fell from almost 2 billion to less than 1.3 billion, child mortality dropped to 6.9 million (12 million in 1990) and huge improvements were made in school enrolment. 

Research from the World Bank shows that in 1981, almost three-fourths of citizens in the developing world lived on less than $2 a day – this rate has dropped dramatically to 43 percent. Their report Inequality in Focus claims that, “Progress is undeniable”, with preliminary estimates revealing that positive trends are set to continue. This encouraging assessment is backed up in part by Justin Forsyth, the Chief Executive of Save the Children who recently stated:

 “The world has made dramatic progress in cutting child deaths and improving opportunities for children.”

Despite the considerable improvements made to child well-being, the positive figures on show bely the rapidly growing problem of inequality. In a recent report Born Equal: How reducing inequality could give our children a better future, Save the Children argues that global progress masks a huge number of disparities. When broken down, national statistics on poverty reduction, hunger, child mortality show striking imbalances between rich and poor, urban and rural areas, men and women and ethnic groups.

The top deciles of populations in developed and developing countries are getting rapidly richer and the disproportionate levels of healthcare, nutrition and better access to school enjoyed by this section of society make it difficult to provide an accurate picture of whether the progress being made is benefiting those who need it most. In a TED Talk on economic inequality and its effects on society, public health researcher Richard Wilkinson describes the 'extraordinary' disparities between rich and poor, pointing at a near ten year life expectancy gap between the wealthy and the impoverished in England and Wales. Born Equal exemplifies the issue by using the case of Madagascar, where a striking drop in under-five mortality between the late 90s and the mid-2000s had been concentrated in the top wealth quintile:

“While child mortality in the richest quintile fell from 142 to 49 per 1000 live births, the poorest quintile saw less progress, with a more modest fall from 195 to 101 per 1000 live births.”

The report stipulates that children bear the brunt of inequality, demonstrating that in some cases children born into the richest households have access to 35 times (Born Equal) the resources of the poorest. Furthermore, child mortality rates are more than double among the poorest countries and stunting rates can reach levels six times higher in rural than in urban areas in countries with noticeable spatial inequalities. Notably, research from the OECD has shown that for the first time inequality has risen in traditionally low-inequality countries, such as Germany, Denmark, and Sweden (and other Nordic countries), where it grew more than anywhere else in the 2000s. Widening disparities in income have been shown to compromise a country's economic growth, damage well-being outcomes and threaten poverty reduction. On a micro level, inequality threatens the right of every child to have an equal chance to survive and thrive.

Despite the fact that children are hardest hit by inequality, little focus has been applied to the measurement of inequality among them. Born Equal not only lays out the damaging effects of inequality on children but identifies the policies and interventions that have successfully dealt with the problem up until now and then goes further by providing a number of recommendations for the upcoming post- 2015 framework that will replace the Millennium Goals. These include a call for a more equitable approach to the pursuit of development goals through the disaggregation of targets and indicators by wealth and other forms of group based inequalities. They also provide suggestions on progressive taxation and break away from other major development organisations by being the first to call for a fight against illicit flows.

The problem of inequality is transcendent throughout the world and it seems paramount that while focus is still applied to the current MDGs – the next generation of these goals must pursue equity in similar measure. Only by shifting the attention to those who have not benefited from the current program will its aims be fully achieved. Justin Forsyth emphasized this necessity when he added:

“Unless inequality is addressed...any future development framework will simply not succeed in maintaining or accelerating progress. What’s more, it will hold countries – and the world – back from experiencing real growth and prosperity.”

Robbie Lawrence

Wikichild Coordinator

@Wiki_child

@Robbielawrence1

Education for All - A Focus on Nutrition

According to this year's EFA Global Monitoring Report, early childhood is the 'critical period' in which the foundations for success in education and beyond should be put in place.

The report is important because it highlights that education is not solely about making sure children can attend school but are provided with the support and opportunities that will allow them to prosper in later life.

This article will focus on Goal 1 of the report which aims to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, by looking specifically at the importance of nutrition in young children's development.

© UNESCO / Ghana / CAMFED

In a recent interview at the 4th OECD World Forum in Delhi, David McNair of Save the Children emphasized the threat that malnutrition poses to children:

“This is a problem which is hidden. It is the killer of 2.3 million children every year and there is an additional 170 million children whose physical and cognitive development is stunted because they don’t receive the right nutrients in the early stages of life.”

Despite a decline in the global number of deaths of children under five from 12 million in 1990 to 9.6 million in 2000 and 7.6 million in 2010 (EFA 2012), this drop is not sufficient if the fourth Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 is to be met. In 2005 the WorldHealth Organization reported that more than half of all deaths among children are caused by malnutrition. It is therefore arguable that if governments seek to provide adequate quantities of higher quality food with more micronutrients, child mortality levels may drop to the targeted percentage.

Alongside mortality rates, stunting is the most appropriate measure of childhood malnutrition. Current trends reveal that by 2015 as many as 157 million children will suffer from stunting (EFA 2012). Broken down that is one in four children under the age of five. Stunting results in increased susceptibility to disease but also undermines a child's future potential, on a wider this can have associated economic effects for a country both in medical costs and in the creation of a depleted, unskilled workforce.

While the physical implications of malnutrition on children are clear, the cognitive effects should not be overlooked. In a press release for the their research report no. 18 (2006), the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning wrote:

“The diet of children has risen to the top of the political agenda, not only for the potential health repercussions later in life, but also for its immediate effects on mental health of children and their consequent school experience and attainment.”

Malnutrition, through lack of both macronutrients and certain micronutrients has long-term negative impacts on brain and nerve development and function, including on mental skills and activity, and the acquisition of skills needed to interact well socially. This damage is often reflected in lower IQs and poorer performance at school (Save the Children). In the same way that physical stunting has economically related costs, cognitively stunted youths will struggle to enter a country's workforce. An example of this can be seen in Sub-Saharan Africa, an area that arguably sees the highest levels of malnutrition in children (EFA, 2012), where only 10% of jobs are available to young people. According to the OECD's  Promoting Youth Employment in Africa about 133 million young people are illiterate; while poverty and poor education facilities are catalysts to this problem, malnutrition almost certainly lays the foundations for it.

© UNESCO / Bangladesh

It is evident that progress has been made in the global drive to tackle malnutrition, however, by assessing these gains on such a wide level, areas where progress has been slow may get overlooked. Ironically, these areas are arguably where the most progress needs to happen. If we are to take the example of Sub-Saharan Africa, where 25 of the 28 countries with child mortality rates above 100 per 1000 live births are located (EFA, 2012), there has actually been an increase in child stunting from 38 million in 1990 to 55 million in 2010. According to UNICEF, “Children marginalized by poverty, rural location have benefited least from progress.” Malnutrition is rooted in poverty and deprivation. At a time where food prices are sharply rising poor people are likely to suffer the most since they wont be able to buy food even when it is available. The EFA report reveals that in more than two-fifths of the eighty-eight countries with accessible data, the difference between in stunting rates between rural and urban children was more than ten percent.

It is important to note that strong economic growth does not necessitate improvements in nutrition among children. While India has experienced exponential growth over the last decade, there has been little progress made in improving nutrition. Stunting rates have remained high and almost half of children under five are malnourished, a statistic that the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decried as a “national shame.” (EFA, 43)

There is evidently a long way to go if the issue of malnutrition in children is going to be countered. While there are signs of progress, it is too slow and uneven. Judging by current rates, only 11 of the 65 countries with more than 40 child deaths per 1000 live birth will reach their Millennium Development Goal targets (EFA 40). Without proper nutrition, children around the world are struggling to achieve their full potential and this reduced productivity will weaken economic growth. David McNair stipulates that if we are to prioritise this issue then "we need to have the right metrics and statistical systems in place to ensure that government's are held to account for the progress that is being made." The EFA Global Monitoring report goes someway in allowing us to ascertain where particular improvements need to be made.

Robbie Lawrence, Wikichild Coordinator
@robbielawrence1 

The threat of youth unemployment in Africa

In his opening address at the OECD’s International Economic Forum on Africa, Olusegun Obsanjo warned that youth unemployment in Africa has reached a critical stage.

Speaking to the committee, the former President of Nigeria stipulated that with well over half of 15-24 year olds out of work, the potential for instability in the region had grown, as seen last year in the violent protests that erupted across North Africa and the Middle East.

In the last decade, Africa has experienced exponential economic growth. Going some way to shrug off the ‘Hopeless Continent’ tag tarred on it by The Economist, Africa created 73 million new jobs between 2000 and 2008 (All statistics in this article are taken from Promoting Youth Employment in Africa) and has more recently endured the financial crisis with many economies already growing at rates close to their pre-crisis averages. In line with these figures, six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies (2001-2010) were in sub-Saharan Africa.

On the surface this all seems promising, particulary the burgeoning job figures. However, these stats alone bely an underlying problem; only 10% of Africa’s job market is available to youths.

In almost adjacent fashion to Africa’s economic growth, Africa’s working age population grew rapidly in the last decade, between 2000 and 2008 it increased from 443 million to 550 million, an upsurge of 25%. 

If this trajectory continues then the continent’s labour force will reach 1 billion by 2040. With half of the continent’s population under the age of 20, Africa already has the youngest population in the world.

Despite improvements in education that will see 59% of 20-24 year olds with a secondary education by 2030, compared to 42% today, at present about 133 million young people (more than 50% of the of the youth population) are illiterate. Without the vital skills necessary for entering the labour market this group is marginalized.

Even for the educated youth problems could arise if Africa fails to implement an economic infrastructure that will provide sufficient employment opportunities for them.  Obsanjo emphasized the necessity for this support system, “If youth are given education and skill they will prosper...they must have financial support."

For Obsanjo, the prospect of a vast, under skilled and unemployed youth population is a serious concern – at the Forum he expressed that the disaffection felt by this generation could catalyze more Arab Spring-like revolts across Africa.

According to the World Bank, one in two young people who join a rebel movement cites unemployment as the main reason for doing so. In countries like Liberia, a state that has suffered two civil wars since the late 80s, unemployment is seen as one of the major cause of instability. Even in South Africa, the most developed country in the continent, the effects of high youth unemployment have triggered an upsurge in protests over the last few years,  the AFP (see video below) reports that, “Demonstrations have intensified in poor areas of South Africa with the number of protests rising eight fold in the last seven years – peaking at 111 in 2010.” In a derisive article written for AllAfrica.com, Glenn Ashton focuses on the South African governments faltering attempts to incorporate its politically active and restless youth into the country’s labour force. While the piece is openly one sided, it does provide further insight into this particular matter.

The devastating consequences of violence are all to clear from the recent horrors taking place in Syria, however, the economic ramifications of civil unrest should not be overlooked. According to the Africa Economic Outlook survey, the Arab revolutions caused “North Africa’s Gross Domestic Product to decline by 3.6 percentage points to near stagnation in 2011.” It is arguable that support systems for jobless youths must be put in place, not only to avoid bloodshed, but to ensure the sustainability of economic development in Africa.

Obsanjo concluded his speech by reminding the committee of the resourcefulness and dynamism of young people, and the necessity of including them in plans for Africa’s economic future. He stressed the importance of maximising the potential of youth by creating policies that provide education and opportunities. He closed with, 

“Youths must see themselves as agents. They must have the right attitude. They must not give up.” 

  

Robbie Lawrence, Wikichild Coordinator

@robbielawrence1

Early stimulation and micronutrients interventions: the next frontiers to break the cycle of child poverty

Why should we put more money into early childhood development interventions? Does this help children in secondary education? Should we invest in preschool programmes or more in home stimulation or parenting classes? What is most cost-effective?  These are key questions that policymakers are grappling with at a time when early childhood development is emerging as a priority issue for many developing countries.

Evidence recently presented at a 3ie UCL conference on “Promises for Preschoolers” is clearly calling for more investment in young lives at an early age. These are crucial years where strategic investments can make a huge difference in generating success in adulthood.

More than 200 million children under the age of five in developing countries are not fulfilling their developmental potential. Currently the focus has been more on pre-schoolers  from age three to six, but there are some gaps that emerge quite early in children from zero to three.

For Sally Grantham McGregor who is a leading expert in the field and led a long-term evaluation of a large scale home visit intervention in Jamaica and now recently in Colombia, early stimulation can have significant benefits for the child’s development, education and long-term livelihood. In the case of Jamaica, preliminary findings reveal that these positive effects also rub off the next generation  (view interview with Sally Grantham McGregor on early stimulation).

“The trade-off is not between investing in children under three as opposed to pre-schoolers, but at the moment the money is not going to the under three”. Grantham McGregor also stressed that nutrition interventions can benefit children development if conducted before the child turns two and early stimulation is critical till age five.

While there is growing evidence on the impact of early childhood development, 3ie Executive Director Howard White said “we need more evidence to show the long term effects of such interventions in reducing poverty. 3ie is also planning to finance more follow-up evaluations to see if the benefits are sustained through to second grade and in later life.” (view interview with Howard White from the Promises for Preschoolers conference).

Micronutrients supplementation is another type of intervention that can provide tremendous gain for children suffering from malnutrition, particularly in countries in Africa and South Asia.  DfID Chief Economist Stefan Dercon called this the “next frontier”. “We still have an awful lot to do in the space of under nutritional stunting and this is where I think we know increasingly what to do and how to do it” (view video “Micronutrients: the next frontier?”).

However, Jere Behrman from University of Pennsylvenia pointed out that “one has to pay much more attention to the context and look at tailoring the type of intervention to the specific needs and demand in the country”. Orazio Attanasio from University College London also said “there are big challenges in nutrition intervention both because the child may be affected by parasites and because administering the right supplements can be difficult in the field and mothers may not give them to their children” (view video  interview with Orazio Attanasio on the next frontier for early childhood development).

For Orazio Attanasio the “gap is to start thinking of integrated intervention and how one can design a programme where you start very early and follow the child when he or she gets to school. There you need to engage and coordinate with different ministries and agencies”.

Christelle Chapoy

3ie International Initiative for Impact Evaluation

Child poverty and the girl child

Living in a state of poverty which infers living below a certain income level and being deprived the right to access basic needs – information, health care, education housing, sanitation, hygiene, adequate and nutritious food, freshwater - has a disproportional impact on children, who are physically more vulnerable to the effects of these deprivations (CEPAL, UNICEF, 2012).

As stated by the CEPAL/ UNICEF study, ‘poverty when present during childhood, demonstrates a lack of the exercise and title of rights, and in effect the negation of citizenship’. Addressing it is not only vital for child survival but also for ensuring child well-being and child well-becoming. The study revealed that 56% of children in lower and middle income Latin American countries experienced one or more severe deprivations. In a separate section it highlights the gender perspective of child poverty and describes the contribution of the inter- generational reproduction of the gender division of labour, especially concerning key themes such as child labour and school desertion, to girl child poverty (CEPAL, UNICEF, 2012).

In Latin America, as in many parts of the world, girl child labour commonly involves domestic activities that are often unremunerated. Such work is often disruptive to their education (if not a complete obstacle) and when outside of the home, exposes them to different forms of mistreatment and abuse. This situation, argues the paper, also contributes to the development of an occupational pattern whereby the care of others becomes the natural and almost exclusive responsibility of girl children (CEPAL, UNICEF, 2012).

There is increasing discussion of the need to focus on children as a specific vulnerable group, who have a right to have their voice listened to, be involved in measuring their own well-being using subjective measures and as a result, be the unit of analysis in such assessments. However, within this campaign it is easy to forget the specific needs of sub-groups such as girl children, who face in effect double vulnerability due to their age and gender and, for whom current campaigns and measurements may not be sufficient to ensure their well-being and well-becoming. 

Analysis of the effect of girl child labour on inter-generational poverty infers another element of the interdependence of the well-being of girl children and that of their mothers’. Although household and time use activities change over time, women’s use of time is different to that of men’s (Stiglitz, Sen, Fitoussi 2009) and in this respect, their well-being influences that of their children. Consequently the economic autonomy and decision making power of women/mothers, has an influence on a girl child’s chances of not living in poverty and being inserted into a more equal world (CEPAL, UNICEF, 2012).

The application of non monetary indicators to track girl’s and women’s time use which reveal the activities undertaken and opportunities missed can help to build evidence of the need to address gender inequalities and barriers to opportunities - which commence from a young age - as well as how to address them and help to contribute to breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

Minujin A, 2012, Global Child Poverty and Well-Being: Measurement, Concept, Policy and Action,

Stiglitz, Sen, Fitoussi 2009, Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/documents/rapport_anglais.pdf

UNICEF, CEPAL, 2012, Pobreza Infantil en America Latina y el Caribe, Santiago

Good news on progress in child well-being and why it is necessary to invest further

Two reports released this month put forward evidence as to why it makes sense to invest in children, not only because reducing child deprivation is a moral obligation for all countries, but because such a strategy can have long term, social and economic benefits.

The child population of a country, are its future and whether they develop into productive, contributing members of society can have a profound influence on, among others, factors of social cohesion, economic growth, a country’s welfare burden, their capacity to reap gains from a demographic dividend and their human capital. Both reports agree that failure to address issues which impact on child well-being, including poverty and inequality, can result in failure to break cycles of intergenerational poverty.

As stated in UNICEF’s report ‘Child poverty and inequality: New perspectives’, children experience poverty differently to adults in terms of causes and the long term effects that even short periods of deprivation can have on them. While an adult may experience poverty for a period, the impacts on a child of disruption to education, poor nutrition and limited access to health services caused by poverty can do permanent damage as ‘rarely does a child get a second chance at education or a healthy start in life’ (UNICEF, 2012). Alternatively, good quality infant and child nutrition leads to approximately 2-3% growth annually in developing country economic wealth and addressing malnutrition in the early years of life can increase lifetime earnings by 20% (ODI, Save the Children, UNICEF, 2012).

The good news, as reported by the ODI, Save the Children and UNICEF in ‘Progress in Child Well-Being: Building on what works’, is that significant progress has been achieved in the last two decades in the areas of health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child protection. Rates of child marriage and child labour reduced in many countries, levels of child stunting have dropped in developing countries, more children have and continue to be registered at birth, lower levels of HIV transmission to children are reported, more children are enrolled in primary school and under five child mortality has declined.

So what is the bad news? As a whole the world is not on track to meet most of the child-related MDGs. Approximately 50% of children and youth are below the $2 a day international poverty line (UNICEF, 2012), 7.6 million children under five died in 2010, progress on lowering malnutrition has been slow (ODI, Save the Children, UNICEF, 2012), children continue to be disproportionately affected by disasters (see Children and Sustainable Development) and roughly 2.5 billion people are without adequate sanitation (ODI, Save the Children, UNICEF, 2012) resulting in approximately 1.8 million children dying every year from diarrhoea and other diseases (see Freshwater).

What was that about good news? As shown by Progress in Child Well-Being: Building on what works, development assistance and investing in children does work and as documented by ‘Child Poverty and Inequality: New Perspectives’, measurement strategies, policy and interventions that recognise the differences between child and adult poverty and which address its multidimensionality are more likely to be successful in improving child well-being and advancing child rights.

Hannah Chadwick

Wikichild Consultant

References

UNICEF, 2012, Child Poverty and Inequality: New Perspectives, Isablel Ortiz, Louise Moreira Daniels, Solrun Engilbertsdottir (eds), UNICEF, New York, Available at: http://www.wikiprogress.org/index.php/Child_poverty_and_inequality:_New_perspectives

Overseas Development Institute, 2012, Progress in Child well-being: Building on what works, commissioned by Save the Children and UNICEF, Save the Children, London, Available at: http://www.savethechildren.org.au/images/content/resources/Progress_in_Child_Well-being_pages_low_res_16-4-12.pdf