To achieve the vision for the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the UN Secretary General's synthesis of the post-2015 discussions, child poverty needs to be at the core of the new framework. Childhood is the critical period for the development of human faculties. Not only does poverty experienced during childhood have demonstrable damaging life-long consequences, but its impact on children's he
Some evidence from Young Lives:
- By age 8 the poorest third of children in Peru were four times more likely to be stunted (malnourished) than the leastpoor children.
- By age 12 the poorest children in Ethiopia were about 2 school grades behind the least-poor children.
- By age 15 school enrolment among the least-poor third of Young Lives children in Vietnam was 40% higher than among the poorest third of children.
- By age 19 girls in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were twice as likely to have become mothers than girls from the least-poor families.
Who stays enrolled in school? Evidence from Vietnam
Who stays enrolled in school? Evidence from Vietnam. Source: From Infancy to Adolescence
The associations between childhood poverty and children's development over the life-course are clear, but what compounds this problem is that children are over-represented among the poorest people. Of the 1.2 billion people that the World Bank estimates were living in extreme poverty (i.e. on less than $1.25 per day) in 2010, 47% are aged 18 or younger.
Age profile of people living in extreme poverty
Source: The State of the Poor, World Bank figures published in 2013
The good news is that one of the advances the Sustainable Development Goal debate has brought about is recognition of the need to disaggregate data to show how different age groups, socio-economic groups or other groups are faring. This concern about inequalities acknowledges a criticism of the MDGs that overall progress has masked significant disparities between social groups. This sort of data disaggregation offers the hope of 'shining a light into the dark places'. This is critically important for policy development since policy decisions are often influenced by what data is available so what matters needs measuring.
A global coalition of partners working to end child poverty (which includes Young Lives, UNICEF, Save the Children, the African Child Policy Forum and many others) has come together to make the case that measurement of child poverty must be included in the SDGs, and to show how this could be done. The case is set out in an evidence brief we have published today.
The bottom line is simple: what is measured is what usually attracts policy attention, and in this case there is a clear imperative to ensure that poverty affecting children does not slip off the political agenda. Ensuring that greater recognition is made of the extent that poverty in childhood affects later outcomes and life-chances is a critical step towards creating better policy to reduce it. The Secretary General's report called for a data revolution to lighten the way towards better development. Showing how children are over-represented in chronically poor populations is an important part of that challenge.
To achieve the vision for the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the UN Secretary General's synthesis of the post-2015 discussions, child poverty needs to be at the core of the new framework. Childhood is the critical period for the development of human faculties. Not only does poverty experienced during childhood have demonstrable damaging life-long consequences, but its impact on children's he
Some evidence from Young Lives:
- By age 8 the poorest third of children in Peru were four times more likely to be stunted (malnourished) than the leastpoor children.
- By age 12 the poorest children in Ethiopia were about 2 school grades behind the least-poor children.
- By age 15 school enrolment among the least-poor third of Young Lives children in Vietnam was 40% higher than among the poorest third of children.
- By age 19 girls in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were twice as likely to have become mothers than girls from the least-poor families.
Who stays enrolled in school? Evidence from Vietnam
Who stays enrolled in school? Evidence from Vietnam. Source: From Infancy to Adolescence
The associations between childhood poverty and children's development over the life-course are clear, but what compounds this problem is that children are over-represented among the poorest people. Of the 1.2 billion people that the World Bank estimates were living in extreme poverty (i.e. on less than $1.25 per day) in 2010, 47% are aged 18 or younger.
Age profile of people living in extreme poverty
Source: The State of the Poor, World Bank figures published in 2013
The good news is that one of the advances the Sustainable Development Goal debate has brought about is recognition of the need to disaggregate data to show how different age groups, socio-economic groups or other groups are faring. This concern about inequalities acknowledges a criticism of the MDGs that overall progress has masked significant disparities between social groups. This sort of data disaggregation offers the hope of 'shining a light into the dark places'. This is critically important for policy development since policy decisions are often influenced by what data is available so what matters needs measuring.
A global coalition of partners working to end child poverty (which includes Young Lives, UNICEF, Save the Children, the African Child Policy Forum and many others) has come together to make the case that measurement of child poverty must be included in the SDGs, and to show how this could be done. The case is set out in an evidence brief we have published today.
The bottom line is simple: what is measured is what usually attracts policy attention, and in this case there is a clear imperative to ensure that poverty affecting children does not slip off the political agenda. Ensuring that greater recognition is made of the extent that poverty in childhood affects later outcomes and life-chances is a critical step towards creating better policy to reduce it. The Secretary General's report called for a data revolution to lighten the way towards better development. Showing how children are over-represented in chronically poor populations is an important part of that challenge.