I n n o c e n t i
R e p o r t
C a r d
1 1
Material deprivation: the Child Deprivation Index
9
example, does not mean that children’s actual living standards are lower in Canada (only that a greater proportion of Canadian children live in households where disposable income is 50% of the median). In order to arrive at a more complete picture of child poverty, a measure of actual material deprivation has therefore also been included.
Relative income measures, however, have little to say about the actual living conditions of children in different countries. The fact that a higher percentage of children live in relative income poverty in Canada than in the Czech Republic, for Figure 1.2a Child deprivation rates
% of children lacking two or more specific items – see text
Again, two indicators have been used. The first is the UNICEF Child Deprivation Rate (introduced in Report Card 10) v which shows what percentage of children in each nation lack two or more of the following 14 items: 1. Three meals a day 2. At least one meal a day with meat, chicken or fish (or vegetarian equivalent) 3. Fresh fruit and vegetables every day
Iceland Sweden Norway Finland Denmark Netherlands Luxembourg Ireland United Kingdom Spain Slovenia Austria Czech Republic Germany Belgium France Estonia Italy Greece Slovakia Lithuania Poland Portugal Latvia Hungary Romania
4. Books suitable for the child’s age and knowledge level (not including schoolbooks) 5. Outdoor leisure equipment (bicycle, roller-skates, etc.) 6. Regular leisure activities (swimming, playing an instrument, participating in youth organizations, etc.) 7. Indoor games (at least one per child, including educational baby toys, building blocks, board games, computer games, etc.) 8. Money to participate in school trips and events 9. A quiet place with enough room and light to do homework 10. An Internet connection 11. Some new clothes (i.e. not all second-hand) 12. Two pairs of properly fitting shoes
Cyprus Malta Bulgaria 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Findings
» The five Nordic countries and the Netherlands claim the top six places. » Luxembourg and Ireland are the only other countries with child deprivation rates below 5% (although the United Kingdom comes close at 5.5%).
» France and Italy have child deprivation rates higher than 10%. » Four countries have child deprivation rates of more than 25% – Hungary, Latvia, Portugal and Romania.
13. The opportunity, from time to time, to invite friends home to play and eat 14. The opportunity to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, name days, religious events, etc. Figure 1.2a presents the child deprivation rate for 26 countries (no comparable data are available for Canada, Switzerland or the United States).