US ranks high in child poverty among richest countries
By Sunil Freeman
UNICEF has released a report ranking relative child poverty in 35 of the world’s richest countries and found the U.S., with 23.1 percent of children in poverty next to worst, behind all but Romania, at 25.5 percent. The relative child poverty measure includes children living in households with disposable income of less than half the national median income. The report estimated that 30 million children lived in poverty in the 35 countries.
It also examined child deprivation, finding millions of children lacking things widely available in most households, including having three meals a day, two pairs of shoes, new clothes and Internet connectivity. Richard Danziger, director of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, observed that the poor showing of the U.S. comes as no surprise. He explained that other countries “tend to have minimum wages that are higher than ours.” And also: “The children would be covered universally by health insurance. Other countries provide more child care.”
