World Children's Day

Who is most at risk of child poverty? The world’s youngest children experience higher rates of poverty than older ones. Children with disabilities, children living in rural areas, and indigenous children experience higher rates of poverty than other children. Historic levels of conflict are also driving more children into poverty, with half of all children in fragile and conflict-affected settings living in extreme poverty. Children who are displaced or refugees, though often undercounted, face heightened poverty risk both in transit and upon arrival. Where is child poverty most common? Together, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia account for almost 9 out of 10 children living in extreme monetary poverty. Such concentration in these two regions is no reason for complacency elsewhere. Substantial levels of child poverty exist around the world, even in countries that are now considered relatively well off. In high-income countries, about 50 million children live in monetary poverty, mean...

Decades of effort to end child poverty have uncovered proven strategies that are essential for making progress. Ending child poverty is a policy choice.

Embedding child poverty reduction in laws, plans and budgets transforms it from aspiration into binding obligation. Prioritizing child poverty in national strategies drives political commitment, mobilizing resources and ensuring coordinated action across sectors. Integrating child poverty into broader development frameworks also strengthens accountability and secures sustained funding. Learn more on the Ways to Make ending child poverty a national priority .

Reducing child poverty requires embedding children’s needs into economic and fiscal governance . Central banks should assess how interest rate changes affect families, and legal frameworks should protect child-related spending and include automatic inflation adjustments. Child-sensitive budgeting and transparency mechanisms also support accountability – countries with more transparent budgets tend to spend more on health care and child well-being . Learn more on the Ways to integrate children’s needs into economic policies and budgets .

Both universal and targeted family and child benefits have demonstrably helped reduce child poverty rates, improved nutrition and health, and increased school attendance and completion . Targeted cash transfer programmes have proven effective in countries including Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, while Poland’s universal child benefit has helped drive a substantial reduction in child poverty rates . Still, approximately 1.6 billion children globally lack any form of social protection coverage. Learn more on the Ways to Expand inclusive social protection .

Children need reliable access to education, healthcare, water, sanitation, nutrition, information, play and housing to support their learning, development and well-being. Indonesia’s School Operational Assistance programme has reduced financial burdens on families while increasing enrolment and retention, while Bangladesh’s integrated maternal and infant nutrition efforts have steadily lowered the country’s stunting rates. Lean more on the ways to Expand access to quality public services

  Children’s well-being is closely tied to their caregivers’ economic security . Despite a low global unemployment rate, more than 58 per cent of the global workforce were informally employed in 2023. In Africa, 29 per cent of working people were living in poverty – more than four times the global rate. Practical steps to ensure decent work include legislating and enforcing minimum wages, increasing formalization through incentives, extending social security to informal workers. Policies must also support workers’ care responsibilities through paid parental leave and affordable childcare. Learn more on the Promotion of decent work for parents and caregivers to end child poverty .