International Forum on the Eradication of Poverty
United Nations, New York, USA
Child Poverty
Professor David Gordon
Professor of Social Justice
School for Policy Studies
University of Bristol, UK
15th November 2006
The Rhetoric of Child Poverty
Child Poverty in the UK
The UK Government is committed to tackling the problem of child
poverty. In March 1999, the Prime Minister Tony Blair set out a
commitment to end child poverty forever:
“And I will set out our historic aim that ours is the first generation to end
child poverty forever, and it will take a generation. It is a 20-year mission
but I believe it can be done.
No More Hungry Children?
...within a decade no child will go to bed hungry, [...] no
family will fear for its next days bread and [...] no human
being's future and well being will be stunted by
malnutrition.
Henry Kissinger, First World Food Conference, Rome 1974
The Reality of Child Poverty
Age at death by age group, 1990-1995
Source: The State of the World Population 1998
Make Poverty History: Click Video
“The
world's biggest killer and the greatest cause of ill
health and suffering across the globe is listed almost at the
end of the International Classification of Diseases. It is
given code Z59.5 -- extreme poverty.
World Health Organisation (1995)
Seven out of 10 childhood deaths in developing countries
can be attributed to just five main causes - or a combination
of them: pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles, malaria and
malnutrition. Around the world, three out of four children
seen by health services are suffering from at least one of
these conditions.
World Health Organisation (1996; 1998).
Champagne glass of income distribution
The stem of the
glass is getting
thinner. In 1960
the income of
the wealthiest
fifth was 30
times greater
than that of the
poorest fifth;
now it's more
than 80 times
greater.
The Consequences of Poverty
Absolute and Overall Poverty
After the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, 117 countries
adopted a declaration and programme of action which included commitments to eradicate
“absolute” and reduce “overall” poverty.
Absolute poverty was defined as "a condition characterised by severe deprivation of
basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,
shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to
services."
Child Poverty in the World
Over one billion children – half the children in the
world- suffer from severe deprivation of basic human
need and 30% (650 million) suffer from absolute
poverty (two or more severe deprivations).
Severe Deprivation of Basic Human Need for Children
•Almost a third of the world’s children live in dwellings with more than five people per
room or which have a mud floor.
•Over half a billion children (27%) have no toilet facilities whatsoever.
•Over 400 million children (19%) are using unsafe (open) water sources or have more
than a 15-minute walk to water.
•About one child in five, aged 3 to 18, lacks access to radio, television, telephone or
newspapers at home.
•Sixteen percent of children under five years in the world are severely malnourished,
almost half of whom are in South Asia.
•275 million children (13%) have not been immunised against any diseases or have
had a recent illness causing diarrhoea and have not received any medical advice or
treatment.
•One child in nine aged between 7 and 18 (over 140 million) are severely educationally
deprived - they have never been to school.
Percent of the world’s children severely deprived of basic human needs
Global Rural and Urban Absolute Child Poverty Rates
Shelter
Sanitation
Water
]
] Physical Capital Items
]
Information
Food
Health
Education
]
] Human Capital Items
]
The severe deprivations of basic human need which affect the greatest number of
children are ‘physical capital’ problems - deprivation of shelter, water and sanitation.
Whilst fewer children suffer from deprivations of ‘human capital’ – health, education
and nutrition, most of the world’s anti-poverty policies are aimed at improving that
human capital, particularly in urban areas
The Price of Life?
The cost of achieving universal access to basic social services
Need
Annual cost
(US$ billions)
Basic education for all
6
Basic health and nutrition
13
Reproductive health and family planning
12
Low cost-water supply and sanitation
9
Total for basic social services
40
The Cost of Food and Health for All
Over ten million of the world’s young children die each year
and, in over half of these deaths, malnutrition is a contributory
cause.
The cost of preventing these deaths is relatively small: $13
billion a year for ten years would provide basic health and
nutrition for every person on the planet (UNDP, 1997).
By comparison, $30 billion was spent on pizza in the US in
2002 (Pizza Marketing Quarterly, 2003) and $12 billion on
dog and cat food in the EU (Euromonitor International, 2003).
Justice and Fairness?
If the misery of our
poor be caused not
by the laws of
nature, but by our
institutions, great is
our sin.
– Charles Darwin, 1845