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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReport: US Has One Of The Highest Child Poverty Rates In The Developed World
According to a new report from the Office of Research at the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the developed world. Of the 35 wealthy countries studied by UNICEF, only Romania has a child poverty rate higher than the 23 percent rate in the U.S.:
[The rate is] based on the definition of relative poverty used by the OECD. Under this definition, a child is deemed to be living in relative poverty if he or she is growing up in a household where disposable income, when adjusted for family size and composition, is less than 50% of the median disposable household income for the country concerned. By this standard, more than 15% of the 200 million children in the 35 countries listed in Figure 1b are seen to be living in relative poverty.
The top five positions in the league table are occupied by Iceland, Finland, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Norway (with Slovenia and Denmark close behind). All of these countries have relative child poverty rates below 7%. Another eight countries including two of the largest Germany and France have rates between 7% and 10%. A third group, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, post rates of between 10% and 15%. A further six, including populous Italy and Spain, show rates of between 15% and 20%. In only two countries are more than 20% of children living in relative poverty Romania and the United States.
More: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/05/29/491443/un-report-child-poverty/
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Every time I hear some idiot carrying on about "American exceptionalism," I think of all the areas in which we're so far behind the rest of the civilized world. It makes me want to scream.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)DearAbby
(12,461 posts)projected, for Rove's "Crossroads for America", seems more obscene. They will spend millions to make sure 'the millions' remain in poverty.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)to hear Romney bash 'welfare mothers' or some such bullshit.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)if they don't want to go hungry.
Seriously, this is appalling and infuriating.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)wealth and 10% control 80% of the wealth.
You don't need a Ph.D. in math to figure this stuff out.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)their own bootstraps!! Are there no sweatshops??
DearAbby
(12,461 posts)When I think about the money being placed into the GOP campaign, so the wealthiest .02% can take a larger tax cut...PROBLEM: it won't be enough. They are addicted, we will never be able to provide enough. They will want more, until they get it all.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)Really, the way we have grown the ranks of the poor - you can't say it's an accident.