CYP Now - Unicef praises UK's work on child poverty but warns against impact of cuts

Unicef has warned that austerity measures imposed by the government will undo the progress achieved on child poverty in the early years of the economic crisis.

In its latest report card on child poverty, Unicef used two measures to judge wealthy countries’ performance on child poverty.

Based on statistics from 2009, the UK came ninth out of 29 countries for child deprivation, higher than Germany, France and Italy, but below Ireland, Norway and Finland.

Deprivation was calculated on the percentage of children living without two or more of the 14 items judged by Unicef as essential, including three meals a day and a quiet place to do homework.

But on the measure of relative poverty, which is based on the percentage of households living below 50 per cent of the national median income, the UK came 22nd out of 35 countries, below Estonia and Hungary, but above the USA and Romania.

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