Global Child Poverty and Well‐being: Measurement, Concepts, Policy and Action

Citation

Minujin, A. and Nandy, S. (2013), "Global Child Poverty and Well‐being: Measurement, Concepts, Policy and Action", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 40 No. 5, pp. 521-522. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068291311315377

Poverty is detrimental to the development, health and well‐being of children and violates their rights. Accurate measurement of child poverty is essential if the impact of policy interventions on rates of child poverty is to be assessed. This challenging and informative book describes innovative approaches to the measurement of child poverty in low and middle income countries and in rich nations. The focus stretches beyond current income‐based measures to approaches based on multidimensional indicators which reflect children's exposure to deprivation of basic human needs and violation of rights such as shelter, water and sanitation, food, education, health, and information. Furthermore, the book shows how the multidimensional approach to child poverty is not only more informative than the currently used income‐based measures, but is also theoretically more robust. Income and asset‐based measures, such as the wealth index used by the World Bank, tend to under‐estimate the extent of deprivation among children. The example of Tanzania, in Chapter 11, shows the extent of this under‐estimation; using an income poverty measure alone, the UNDP estimates a poverty rate of 36 percent compared with over 80 percent of children suffering one or more deprivations using a multidimensional measure.

Multidimensional measures of child poverty bring into sharp focus the specific ways in which children can be deprived of their needs and rights and hence they can better inform policy interventions aimed at reducing child poverty. The book has many examples, from different countries, of the use of multidimensional measures to describe child poverty and the implications for policy. These are well summarised in one of the late chapters describing the findings of UNICEF's Global Study of Child Poverty and Well‐being which draws on data from 54 countries with 1.5 billion children under the age of 18 years. The South Asia regional analysis, for example, shows that high levels of deprivation persist despite economic growth with between 20 and 60 percent of children suffering multiple severe deprivations particularly in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The study further illustrates the use of multidimensional measures in monitoring the impact of economic crises – particularly relevant given the prolonged global crisis we are currently experiencing. Key policy messages from the study highlight the need for multifaceted policy responses including well‐designed social protection systems exemplified by Bhutan which has managed to buck the trend and reduce the level of multiple child deprivations by extending public services into remote areas.

My only mild criticism of this otherwise excellent book is that the chapters tend to be rather repetitious. Those reporting on individual countries tend to follow a very similar structure which, while it has advantages in ensuring consistency across the volume, can become repetitive. I strongly recommend this book to those interested in the measurement and reduction of child poverty; it should be required reading for teachers and students on courses concerned with social, economic and environmental influences on child health and well‐being as well as those concerned with policy in low, middle and high income countries.