Children are twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty – with almost 385 million children around the world living in that condition, according to a new report from the World Bank Group and UNICEF.
Based on data from 89 countries representing 83 per cent of the world’s population, the report shows that in 2013, 19.5 per cent of children in developing countries were living in households that survived on less than $US1.90 a day compared to 9.2 per cent of adults.
Anthony Lake, UNICEF executive director, said that not only are children more likely to be living in extreme poverty but that the effects of poverty are most damaging upon them.
“They are the worst off of the worst off – and the youngest children are the worst off of all, because the deprivations they suffer affect the development of their bodies and their minds. It is shocking that half of all children in sub-Saharan Africa and one in five children in developing countries are growing up in extreme poverty. This not only limits their futures, it drags down their societies.”
While the highest rates of child poverty can be found in sub-Saharan Africa where more than 50 per cent live in extreme poverty, the second highest region was in South Asia where 36 per cent of children live in similar conditions. More than 80 per cent of children living in extreme poverty live in rural areas.
