1.
PROJECT BRIEF
Child
Poverty
How can we understand,
measure and tackle child
poverty?
©
UNICEF/UN09064/Lynch

2.
Overview
Despite recent advances, child poverty remains a
huge problem globally. An estimated 356 million
children live in extreme poverty – surviving on less
than US$1.90 a day. Around 1 billion children live
in multidimensional poverty.That means that they
lack basic necessities such as nutritious food and
clean water.The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating
these problems. Since the start of the pandemic, it
is estimated that a further 150 million children have
fallen into multidimensional poverty.
UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti has been
at the centre of efforts to develop child-focused
measures of poverty.This has included a methodolo-
gy that takes a rights-based approach
to measuring the multiple and overlapping depriva-
tions that children face. MODA has been used
in many countries to measure and monitor child
poverty and to inform government policy.
We also undertake other research on child poverty.
For example, in 2017 we published a book – Children
of Austerity – that looked at the impact of the 2008
financial crisis on child poverty in rich countries.The
lessons captured are highly relevant once again in
light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently
redeveloping this research stream to take into
account new issues in child poverty.
Approach
We work in close collaboration with UNICEF
colleagues including data and social policy speciali-
sts, and with external academics and other experts.
We provide support to UNICEF Regional and Country
Offices on child poverty research and monitoring.
Key audiences for our child poverty research are
national governments and other policymakers.
We aim to produce high-quality analysis, while
communicating concisely and effectively, in order to
promote solutions to child poverty.
Goal
To generate high-quality analysis that helps
countries to measure child poverty; understand the
key drivers of it; and identify potential policy actions
to tackle the issue.
Project Highlights
PROJECT BRIEF
Contact Info
Dominic Richardson
Chief, Social Policy & Economic Analysis
drichardson@unicef.org
Research on the European Child
Guarantee (2021–2022)
UNICEF’s Regional Office for
Europe and Central Asia is underta-
king the final phase of preparatory
work for the European Union’s
Child Guarantee.This initiative
aims to tackle child poverty and
social exclusion in the EU-27. We
are contributing to this work by
undertaking an analysis of the
current context in the 27 countries.
Our study aims to identify the
improvements needed to address
child poverty and social exclusion
in an integrated and cohesive
way. We are also doing research
to extract learning from UNICEF’s
pilot projects for this initiative in
Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Italy.
A final report on this work will
inform the future development of
the Child Guarantee.
Gwyther Rees
Social & Economic Policy Manager
grees@unicef.org
New issues in child poverty
research - the ‘new poor’ and the
environment (2021)
Global factors are creating new
risks of poverty. It is already clear
that the economic effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic are touching
households who would not usually
be at risk of falling into poverty –
sometimes termed the ‘new poor’.
Adverse environmen-
tal events, including those linked
to climate change, also create new
poverty risks. During 2021 we will
be working with UNICEF data and
policy colleagues to generate new
insights on these emerging issues
in child poverty research.
Understanding child poverty in
context (2021–2022)
Innocenti is developing a new
strand of child poverty research
which is child-centred and aims to
understand the specific meanings
and experiences of child poverty
in different geographical contexts.
The aim is to generate new
insights which can help national,
regional and local policymakers
to address child poverty in a
context-specific way. An initial
pilot study is being undertaken
in Italy in an area far from major
population centres. A report on
the pilot will be published early
in 2022. We will then expand the
approach to other contexts across
the world.