New Figures on Growing Inequality among Children in High Income Countries – UNICEF

NEW YORK (April 14, 2016) – A new UNICEF report presents evidence on how inequality affects children in high income countries.

The United States and Japan, two of the world’s wealthiest countries, were positioned in the bottom third of the league table for income inequality. The U.S. is ranked 30 out of the 41 EU and OECD countries with the household income of a child in the bottom 10th percentile 58.85 percent lower than that of a child in the middle of the income distribution.

Innocenti Report Card 13, Fairness for Children: A league table of inequality in child well-being in rich countries, ranks 41 EU and OECD countries according to how far children at the bottom of the distribution fall below their peers in the middle. The report looks at bottom end inequality of income, educational achievement, self-reported health and life satisfaction.

Outside of income inequality, there have been positive health gains for children in the U.S. with the gap decreasing between those at the bottom and those in the middle. Of all countries surveyed, only the U.S. and Spain improved in all four health indicators since 2002*. Despite these gains, girls in the U.S. are 12 percentage points more likely than boys to have fallen behind their ‘average’ peers across self-reported health, physical activity, healthy and unhealthy eating.

Denmark is at the top of the overall league table with the lowest inequality among children. Israel and Turkey are the lowest ranked. The U.S. is 18^th in the league table, below the United Kingdom but ahead of Canada.

In half the countries covered by the data, more than 10 percent of children live in households with less than 50 percent of the average income, and in a third of countries the gap substantially increased between 2008 and 2013.

Inequality in children’s self-reported health symptoms increased in the majority of countries between 2002 and 2014. Despite this, there were significant reductions in inequality in physical activity and unhealthy eating.

When children rank their life satisfaction on a scale of 1 – 10 the median score is 8; however, children at the lower end of the distribution fall far behind their peers. In every country, girls aged 13 and 15 report lower life satisfaction than boys.

Innocenti Report Card 13 proposes the following key areas for government action to strengthen child well-being:

• Protect the incomes of households with the poorest children.
• Improve the educational achievements of disadvantaged learners.
• Promote and support healthy lifestyles for all children.
• Take subjective well-being seriously.
• Place equity at the heart of child well-being agendas.

“The Report Card provides a clear reminder that the well-being of children in any country is not an inevitable outcome of individual circumstances or of the level of economic development but is shaped by policy choices,” said Dr. Sarah Cook, Director of the UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. “As our understanding of the long term impact of inequality grows, it becomes increasingly clear that governments must place priority on enhancing the well-being of all children today, ensuring they are given opportunities to achieve their potential.”

Data sources:

• The calculations of income inequality among children are based on micro-data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2013 for European Union countries and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
• For the remaining 9 countries included in the analysis the income data come from nationally representative household income surveys.
• Analysis of inequality in educational achievement is based on OECD Program of International Students’ Assessment (PISA) 2006, 2009, and 2012 data sets.
• Health and life satisfaction data are sourced from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2013/2014 survey. Detailed description of the data sources is on page 44 of Report Card 13.

Download the full report: http://www.unicef-irc.org

Download press-kit and multi-media materials: http://uni.cf/1NliymO

About the UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti
The Office of Research – Innocenti is UNICEF’s dedicated research centre. It undertakes research on emerging or current issues in order to inform the strategic directions, policies and programmes of UNICEF and its partners, shape global debates on child rights and development, and inform the global research and policy agenda for all children, and particularly for the most vulnerable. Please visit: www.unicef-irc.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About UNICEF
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

For further information please contact:
Chloe Kay, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, 917 214 1418, ckay@unicefusa.org
Sophie Aziakou, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, 917.720.1397, saziakou@unicefusa.org