Content uploaded by Olivier Thevenon
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Olivier Thevenon on Nov 01, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Child poverty in the OECD: Trends, Determinants and Policies to tackle it
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the main trends in child income poverty since the mid-
2000s, and explores to what extent child poverty trends are linked to demographic, policy
and/or labour market changes. Trends in poverty and the standard of living of children in
low-income families since the onset of the Great Recession are also closely examined: nearly 1 in 7 children is income-poor in the OECD, and child poverty increased in almost two/thirds of OECD countries with the Great Recession. About 1 in 10 children across the OECD live in a family with a standard of living below the 2005 poverty line. Children in low-income families experienced a decline in their standard of living in many countries, with the largest decline among families with the smallest incomes.
The paper also discusses the contribution of financial assistance paid to households under different schemes; it examines how child poverty would evolve if the employment rate of parents from poor families were increased or if the payment of family or housing allowances was more directly targeted at poor families. These analyses help to discuss the policy levers by which child poverty can be substantially reduced. A substantial reduction in family poverty (from 11% to less than 6% on average) would be obtained if all parents from poor families were to be in paid employment. Moreover, a budget-neutral redistribution of family and housing benefits to poor families can help reduce child poverty in many countries. But, such a reallocation of benefits does not lift children from very low-income families out of poverty. These children often experience multiple aspects of material deprivation (including poor housing conditions and a lack of educational opportunities), which calls for a comprehensive strategy combating poverty in all its dimensions.
... Child poverty is also higher when caregivers cannot find paid work at all. Not being able to find work, or secure work with a reasonable schedule, means parents must rely on cash transfers to provide basic necessities for their children (Thévenon et al., 2018). This problem results partly from the lack of targeted full employment policies for parents, including work-family reconciliation policies and high-quality childcare. ...
... Thévenon et al. (2018) report an association across OECD countries of a 0.3% higher absolute poverty rate with a 1% increase in the proportion of single-parent households.Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. ...
Recent legislative proposals in the United States to either institute a child allowance for all families or continue a temporary Covid-related child tax credit similar to an allowance have reignited a debate about family allowances, and whether direct monetary subsidies to families with minor children have unintended consequences for gender inequality and mothers’ labor market success. Advocates for work-family reconciliation policies argue that policies providing paid time off and flexibility in work hours and schedule should enable women to assume financial responsibility for their children and, thus, increase intended fertility without diminishing the quality of care provided to children, while encouraging men to participate more in the domestic sphere. We summarize the limited but growing evidentiary basis for both policy viewpoints, reviewing hundreds of studies on policy implementation and outcomes across rich industrialized countries, comparing the results in terms of their effects on child poverty, gender inequality, and intended fertility.
... It is critical to determine whether it has worsened regional disparities, the rural-urban divide, and socioeconomic inequality [26]. Various researchers show the trends of MCP in their studies across different countries such as in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Ireland, Peru, and Vietnam, and OECD countries [14,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. ...
Background
Empirically, the official measurement of multidimensional poverty often shows children as the poorest age group. According to Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report, Africa and South Asia bear the highest burden multidimensional child poverty (MCP). Around one-third of children aged 0–4 are multidimensionally poor in India. Policymakers in India must have appropriate information on child poverty to alleviate poverty. The purpose of this paper is to examine MCP trends and track efforts to reduce child poverty at the national level across geographic regions, castes, and religious groups.
Methods
We used the Alkire-Foster method to calculate the MCP index (MCPI) among children aged 0–4 using the latest two rounds of National Family Health Survey data (2015–16 and 2019–21). We applied the Shapley decomposition method to analyse the marginal contribution of incidence and intensity that lead to changes in MCPI.
Results
In India, the incidence of child poverty reduced by more than 40% between 2015–16 and 2019–21 (46.6–27.4%) and the MCPI reduced by half (24.2–12.6%). The relative decline in MCPI has been largest for urban areas, northern regions, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Hindus. Children from rural areas, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Muslim households are the poor performers. When focusing exclusively on the poor child, we found all the population subgroups and geographic locations reduced the censored headcount ratios in all 14 indicators. Across places of residence, castes, religions, and regions the, indicators like electricity, birth registration, drinking water, assisted delivery, sanitation and cooking fuel made significant improvements between 2015–16 to 2019–21.
Conclusion
The study indicates that by studying the MCPI over time, one can identify the priorities in policy development to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
... Turkey is one of the OECD countries with the highest child poverty rate. In the OECD child poverty report in 2018 (Thévenon, Manfredi, Govind, Klauzner 2018), although there are large differences between countries approximately, on average, 1 in 7 children is poor across the OECD. Child poverty is the lowest in Denmark at 4%, and highest in Israel and Turkey at 25%. ...
This study focuses on the "nutrition status of students at school" as both a right and a basic need in the context of the economic crisis, high inflation and the resulting increasing child poverty in Turkey. A total of 22 primary school teachers working in multigrade, double shift, full-day schools, and schools with a large
number of refugee students (especially Syrian) in 5 cities were interviewed. Three themes emerged at the end of the content analysis process: Teachers' assessment of students' nutritional status; Teachers' strategies to nutrition of students at schools; Teachers' understanding about right to food at schools. Teachers believe that students, except Syrian students, rarely go to school hungry because of carelessness of families, students waking up late and not having time for breakfast and double shift education. Teachers generally evaluate students' nutritional status in terms of hunger and satiety, and do not emphasize the consumption of
"adequate and balanced nutrition" and "hot and juicy food". All of the teachers also see nutrition at school as a fundamental right of the student, and two-thirds consider the family primarily responsible for providing and protecting this right.
... Young age also represents a stage in life where the confluence of social risks may be high as young individuals go through important life episodes that will determine their present and future life [33]. Further, various international reports have found poverty and social exclusion rates are concentrated in the early stages of the life course [34]. In this regard, period poverty may well be situated within the wider problem of the growing risk of poverty particularly among children and young adults in Spain as well as in other high-income countries [35,36]. ...
Background:
The intersection between poverty and mental health is clear. Period poverty, understood as the lack of access to menstrual products, has been gaining attention especially among low and middle-income countries as an overlooked aspect of gendered poverty. Less is known about the incidence of period poverty in high-income countries and its association with mental health. The purpose of this study is to examine this association in a representative sample of young women living in an urban setting in southern Europe.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from a representative survey of individuals aged 15 to 34 in the city of Barcelona (Spain), with a sample group of 647 young women. Subjects were selected through a systematic stratified random sampling method. A proportional quota sampling was used. The information was registered using CAPI data collection method. Period poverty was measured by a combination of three questions about the lack of access or misuse of menstrual products for economic reasons. The GHQ-12 was used to measure the risk of poor mental health. The analysis was carried out using multivariable logistic regression.
Results:
From our sample, 15.3% of young women reported having experienced period poverty. Higher odds of poor mental health were estimated for women facing period poverty (AOR = 1.85 p < 0.05). This effect is statistically significant after controlling by their income status and level of deprivation. Young women living in poorer households have a higher probability of poor mental health than those living in high-income households (AOR = 0.47 p < 0.05). Finally, material deprivation was associated to an increased risk of poor mental health among young women reporting period poverty (AOR = 2.59 p < 0.01).
Conclusion:
We found that a considerable number of young women living in an urban setting in a high-income country cannot afford menstrual products, and this may have an impact on their mental wellbeing. The relationship between period poverty and respondents' mental health is significant when controlling for factors known to confer an increased risk of poor mental health. If confirmed by further research, the public health burden of poor mental health in young women could be reduced by policy-level interventions to improve access to menstrual products.
... The 'more to lose' mechanism seems particularly apt for explaining the wellknown finding that the effects of parental separation are weaker among black children in the US than in their white counterparts (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). There is ample empirical evidence to suggest that standardised household income declines considerably following parental separation (Amato, 2010;Ongaro et al., 2009), and children living in single-parent households-usually with a lone mother-are exposed to much higher risks of poverty (Aassve et al., 2007;Thévenon et al., 2018). In the light of the higher unemployment rates and lower income in black US households (Thiede et al., 2017), parental separation should imply a higher loss of economic resources for white children, which should translate into more negative consequences for their educational attainment. ...
Unlabelled:
This study explores whether the association between living in a single-parent household and children's educational outcomes differs by migration background through comparing natives with first- and second-generation migrant pupils from different areas of origin. While there is strong evidence of an educational gap between migrant and native pupils in Western countries-and particularly in Italy-the interaction with family structure has been under-investigated. We suggest that native children have more socioeconomic resources to lose as a consequence of parental breakups, and thus may experience more negative consequences from living in a single-parent household compared to migrant children, who tend to have poorer educational outcomes regardless of family disruptions. Moreover, for migrant children, family disruption could result from parents' migratory project (transnationalism) rather than separation or divorce, thus not necessarily implying parental conflict and a deteriorating family environment. Empirical analyses of data from the ISTAT 'Integration of the Second Generation' survey (2015) show that native Italian pupils from single-parent households in lower secondary schools are more strongly penalised in terms of grades, and less likely to aspire to the most prestigious upper secondary tracks when compared to second- and, especially, first-generation children. Indeed, the latter have been found to experience virtually no negative consequences from parental absence. Contrary to expectations, we found no substantial differences in the non-intact penalty based on the reason for parental absence (transnationalism vs divorce), nor by migrants' area of origin.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10680-022-09638-z.
... Previous studies have also not examined the structure of paid leave for children's health needs policies that disproportionately matter to different family types. In high-and low-income countries alike, single parents and families with a large number of children are at greater risk of living in poverty (Boudet et al., 2021;Castañeda et al., 2016;Thévenon et al., 2018). Yet, research from highincome countries on paid parental leave has identified policy gaps that leave single-parent families with access to less total leave than two-parent families (Jou et al., 2020). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the extent to which national laws and policies shape public health and economic security. Paid leave policies enable parents to meet children’s health needs while maintaining job and income security. These policies matter immensely to children’s health every year. Yet, little is known about the extent to which policies exist to support the full range of childhood health needs. Using a novel dataset constructed from legislative text in 193 countries, this study assesses whether laws in place in 2019 are adequate to support meeting children’s everyday, serious, and disability-related health needs. Globally, only half of the countries guaranteed working parents access to any paid leave that could be used to meet children’s health needs. Only a third addressed everyday health needs, including leave that matters to reducing infectious disease spread. For serious health needs, even when paid leave was available, it was often too short for complex health conditions. Moreover, although all children require parental presence at medical appointments and for serious illness, fewer countries guaranteed paid leave to care for older children than younger. Addressing these gaps is crucial to supporting child health and working families during times of public health crisis and every year.
Background:
This study investigated the cumulative impact of persistent poverty on dental caries among elementary schoolchildren in Japan.
Methods:
Data were derived from four-wave longitudinal data of children in all public elementary schools in Adachi City, Tokyo, Japan, from 2015 to 2020 (n=4291, response rate: 80.1%-83.8%). Poverty status, defined as annual household income <JPY3 million, material deprivation or payment difficulties for lifeline utilities, was assessed by caregiver questionnaires when the children were in the first, second, fourth and sixth grades. School dentists assessed dental caries. We estimated the difference in the number of primary and permanent teeth with incidences of dental caries from second to sixth grade by persistent poverty and never having experienced poverty. Targeted maximum likelihood estimation was used to consider baseline and time-varying confounders.
Results:
Children with persistent poverty experienced more dental caries (mean: 3.81, SD: 3.73) than children who had never experienced poverty (mean: 2.39, SD: 3.27). After controlling for confounders, being in persistent poverty was significantly associated with having more dental caries than never being in poverty (mean difference: 1.54, 95% CI 0.60, 2.48). The magnitude of the association was greater than that of poverty assessed at first grade only (mean difference: 0.75, 95% CI 0.35, 1.16) or experience of poverty at any of the four waves (mean difference: 0.69, 95% CI 0.39, 0.99).
Conclusion:
The cumulative impact of persistent poverty could be larger than the poverty assessed at a single time point.
The current study examined multi-trajectories of aggression, hyperactivity/inattention and anxious/depressed problems, along with associated risk factors for trajectory group membership, using a person-centred approach. The sample included 2,857 children (50.1% males) enrolled in the Chilean Encuesta Longitudinal de la Primera Infancia cohort. Maternal reports using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) were completed when children were three, five and eleven years old. Information on risk/protective factors was collected using maternal reports and standardised assessments when children were aged three. Group-based multi-trajectory analysis was implemented. Results indicated that a five-group model best fit the data, with co-occurring symptoms across domains for all groups. Risk factors for membership of groups with the most elevated risk profiles included child sex, maternal age, single parent status, and maternal education, whilst children’s receptive language, maternal vocabulary skills, and not having early attendance in the educational system emerged as protective factors. These identified risk factors may be important targets for future intervention programmes in the Chilean context.
The Oxford International Handbook of Family Policy has two main aims: to identify key developments globally in regard to the forms and modalities of relevant policies, and to take a critical look at the developments regarding those policies. The overall goal is to uncover the extent to which concerns about the family and the role and practices of parents are mobilizing public policy and related agency in different parts of the world. The Handbook draws mainly from research carried out for UNICEF in 2014 and covers nine countries: Belarus, Chile, China, Croatia, England, Jamaica, Philippines, South Africa, and Sweden. Analysis reveals a strong trend cross-nationally toward providing a range of resources (typically termed “support”) to improve familial functioning and increase parents’ information and knowledge, resources, and competence for childrearing. The measures are not uniform, however. Parenting support frequently sits alongside family support policy, but it can also be a stand-alone policy in a setting where there is no developed family policy. In some national settings the growth of family and/or parenting support involves the introduction of new policies and provisions; in others it involves a reorientation or reframing of existing policies. In a further clarification, one has to distinguish between the high-income countries where policy is very well developed and where parenting support represents a specialization of existing policy and the low- and middle-income regions of the world where family support and parenting support are expected to achieve a more generic set of outcomes and where they are much less specific in concrete policy terms.
This book analyses the role of public action in solving the problem of hunger in the modern world. The study is divided into four parts. The first, making extensive use of the concepts of entitlements and capabilities explores the interaction of nutritional, economic, social, and political elements and their influence on hunger and deprivation. The problem of famine prevention is the main focus of the second part, with special attention given to Africa and India. The third part is devoted to the issue of fighting chronic undernourishment and the lessons to be learnt from the policies of China, India, and some other countries. The last part draws together the main themes and concerns of the earlier chapters, and provides an integrated view of the role of public action in eliminating hunger. The study suggests that there is indeed some space for public action in solving the problem of hunger and deprivation. In the case of famine prevention, social security could provide early warning systems and employment provision plans. To fight endemic deprivation, the authors suggest, among other things, that basic health care, elementary education, and food programmes should be looked at.
Early learning matters and can be strengthened and supported through contexts where children spend much of their time. Strong early learning experiences provide young children with opportunities to enjoy exploring their own interests and growing capabilities. Strong early learning also positively predicts well-being across a range of indicators in adulthood, including general well-being, physical and mental health, educational attainment and employment. Areas of early learning that are of particular importance include: language and literacy; numeracy and other non-verbal cognitive skills; self-regulation; emotional health, social well-being and social and emotional skills. These domains are interrelated, meaning that holistic assessment of a range of skills is necessary to understand well-being in early childhood and its implications for the future. Assessment of early learning provides an essential opportunity to reflect on whether governments, communities, schools and families are supporting the power and promise of early learning as intended.
We estimate a panel model where the relationship between inequality and GDP per capita growth depends on countries’ initial incomes. Estimates of the model show that the relationship between inequality and GDP per capita growth is significantly decreasing in countries’ initial incomes. Results from instrumental variables regressions show that in Low Income Countries transitional growth is boosted by greater income inequality. In High Income Countries inequality has a significant negative effect on transitional growth. For the median country in the world, that in the year 2015 had a PPP GDP per capita of around 10000USD, IV estimates predict that a 1 percentage point increase in the Gini coefficient decreases GDP per capita growth over a 5-year period by over 1 percentage point; the long-run effect on the level of GDP per capita is around − 5%.
There is robust evidence that higher minimum wages increase family incomes at the bottom of the distribution. The long-run (3 or more years) minimum wage elasticity of the non-elderly poverty rate with respect to the minimum wage ranges between −0.220 and −0.459 across alternative specifications. The long-run minimum wage elasticities for the tenth and fifteenth unconditional quantiles of family income range between 0.152 and 0.430 depending on specification. A reduction in public assistance partly offsets these income gains, which are on average 66 percent as large when using an expanded income definition including tax credits and noncash transfers. (JEL D31, I32, I38, J31, J38)
We show that the neighborhoods in which children grow up shape their earnings, college attendance rates, and fertility and marriage patterns by studying more than 7 million families who move across commuting zones and counties in the United States. Exploiting variation in the age of children when families move, we find that neighborhoods have significant childhood exposure effects: the outcomes of children whose families move to a better neighborhood-as measured by the outcomes of children already living there-improve linearly in proportion to the amount of time they spend growing up in that area, at a rate of approximately 4% per year of exposure. We distinguish the causal effects of neighborhoods from confounding factors by comparing the outcomes of siblings within families, studying moves triggered by displacement shocks, and exploiting sharp variation in predicted place effects across birth cohorts, genders, and quantiles to implement overidentification tests. The findings show that neighborhoods affect intergenerational mobility primarily through childhood exposure, helping reconcile conflicting results in the prior literature. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.
Using a poverty line set at 60% of New Zealand’s median national income, nearly one in five New Zealand children (19%) was poor in 2011 (Figure 1, based on Perry, 2012). This poverty rate is considerably less than that of the United States and Canada, similar to that of Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and much greater that in Scandinavian countries. These rates are far from immutable; New Zealand’s child poverty rate was much higher in 2004 before social policies were enacted which focused, in part, on the country’s child poverty problem.
