UNICEF: Romania ranks 10th in child poverty among 44 high-income countries
Romania ranks 14th out of 40 countries for income inequality, with the wealthiest fifth earning 5.73 times more than the poorest fifth, according to the “Unequal Chances – Children and Economic Inequality” report released by UNICEF on Tuesday, May 12. Among the countries with comparable data included in the report, Romania ranks 10th in child poverty, with a monetary child poverty rate of 26.2% for 2024.
The report analyzes the relationship between economic inequalities and children’s well-being in 44 OECD member and high-income countries, and finds that in most of these states, income inequality and child poverty rates remain extremely high. On average across all countries, households in the top 20% by income earn more than five times as much as those in the bottom 20%, while nearly one in five children lives in income poverty, meaning their basic needs are at risk of not being met.
According to the report, there is a clear link between high levels of economic inequality and children’s health. Children growing up in countries with the greatest inequality are 1.7 times more likely to be overweight than those in countries with the highest equality, which may indicate lower-quality diets and missed meals.
Highlighting data from European Union countries, the report also notes that only 58% of children from families in the poorest fifth of the population enjoy very good health, compared with 73% among those from the wealthiest fifth.
“Inequality profoundly shapes how children learn, what they eat, and how they experience life,” said Bo Viktor Nylund, Director of the UNICEF Innocenti. “To reduce the most damaging effects of inequality, we urgently need greater investment in the health, nutrition, and education of children in the most disadvantaged communities," he added.
Inequality and school performance
The report also establishes a link between economic inequality and school performance. It emphasizes that countries where the gap between rich and poor is larger tend to show weaker overall educational test results. Children in the most unequal countries face a 65% risk of leaving school without basic reading and math skills, compared with 40% for children in the most equal countries.
These inequalities between countries are also reflected nationally, with significant differences in test outcomes between children from the wealthiest and poorest families within each country. On average, 83% of 15-year-olds from families in the wealthiest fifth of the population have basic math and reading skills, compared with 42% of those from the poorest fifth.
Among the countries with comparable data included in the report, Romania records the largest gap in basic math and reading skills between children from the wealthiest and poorest families: 79.2% of children from the wealthiest fifth have basic math and reading skills, compared with 17.9% of children from the poorest fifth.
(Photo source: Andrii Yalanskyi|Dreamstime.com)
