3 October 2016: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank have called for a focus on ending extreme child poverty, presenting an analysis of disaggregated data showing that extreme poverty disproportionately affects children. The analysis draws on the World Bank Group’s Global Micro Database, a compilation of nationally-representative surveys. In addition, the World Bank Group released a new flagship study on poverty and inequality, finding that children under 18 years old make up half of those living on less than US$1.90 per day.

The organizations issued a joint briefing note on 3 October 2016, titled ‘Ending Extreme Poverty: a Focus on Children,’ which summarizes and illustrates an analysis of data from 89 countries. In developing countries, 20% of children live in extremely poor households, while the proportion of adults who live in such households is 9.2%. In sub-Saharan Africa, half of all children live in extremely poor households. An extremely poor household is defined as one with an income of less than US$1.90 per day per person.

UNICEF and the World Bank are calling on governments to routinely measure child poverty at the national and subnational levels, and to focus on children in national poverty reduction plans. Other recommendations include: strengthening child-sensitive social protection systems, including cash transfer programmes to help families pay for food, health care and education; investing in education, health care, clean water, sanitation, and infrastructure; and shaping policy to ensure that economic growth benefits the poorest children.

The Fund and Bank stress that data is an important part of global efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030, which is the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They note that extreme poverty creates other risks for children, such as inadequate education, health care and nutrition, as well as higher risk of exploitation and abuse, and they call for addressing these multi-dimensional aspects of child poverty.

A World Bank report released on 2 October 2016, titled ‘Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality,’ finds that that around the world, children make up half of the 767 million people living on less than US$1.90 per day (as of 2013). Four out of five of the children living in extreme poverty, it finds, live in rural areas. The report calls for investments focused on early childhood, through providing pre-natal care for mothers, early childhood development programmes, quality schooling, clean water and sanitation, and universal health care.

The Bank finds the highest rates of child poverty in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes that the presence of conflict is the most important risk factor for children to experience extreme poverty. [UN Press Release] [UNICEF Press Release] [Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children] [World Bank Press Release] [Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality]