Having reliable and regular measurements of child poverty is essential to designing and implementing public policies aimed at overcoming it.
The study Child Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC-UNICEF 2010), in which child poverty was measured with a multidimensional approach based on children’s rights in the countries of the region, shows that about 45% of the population under 18 years old lives in poverty. Nearly 81 million children and adolescents suffer hardship as a result of a deficit in the exercise of some of their rights.
The study was conducted under a joint programme between the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNICEF-TACRO), launched in 2008 to measure, analyze and make proposals to combat child poverty. We postulate that to eliminate the scourge of child poverty, governments must integrate social policies, employment policies, and macroeconomic policies. Not only should more resources be allocated to promote children’s rights and increase the supply and quality of services, social protection systems need to be expanded as well.
In order to support countries in periodically measuring child and adolescent poverty, ECLAC and UNICEF present this Guide to Estimating Child Poverty which addresses the issue from a multidimensional perspective and a human rights based approach. This Guide progresses through training modules which can be accessed online and allows for the use of workshops to disseminate the methodology.
We hope the Guide will be useful for national statistical offices throughout the region, academia, experts, and members of civil society interested in tracking the status of child poverty and contributing to promoting policies that ensure respect for the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.Click here to view the Guide to Estimating Child Poverty.
