One in seven children in Belgium lives below poverty line, UNICEF says
Around 14.4 per cent of children in Belgium live below the poverty line, defined as 60 per cent of the median income. That places Belgium eleventh among 41 high-income countries included in a comparison by the Innocenti research centre of UNICEF, published on Tuesday.
According to the report, economic inequality is linked to poorer physical health and lower school performance among children.
The report paints a mixed picture of child welfare in Belgium. The country ranks seventh for physical health, partly due to a low child mortality rate. At the same time, however, one in five children is overweight.
Belgium also performs relatively well in terms of income inequality between the richest and poorest households. The income of the wealthiest 20 per cent is 3.57 times higher than that of the poorest 20 per cent, placing Belgium fifth in the ranking on that indicator.
The country performs less strongly in other areas. Belgium ranks 24th for youth suicide rates and trails many other wealthy countries in educational attainment. According to the report, 91 per cent of children from affluent families achieve basic reading and maths skills, compared with 45 per cent of children from the lowest-income households.
UNICEF Belgium highlighted the importance of maintaining child benefits and increasing minimum wages. The organisation also called for measures to reduce educational inequality, expand the supply of social housing, make disadvantaged neighbourhoods more child-friendly and strengthen consultation with families.
The Netherlands, Denmark and France emerged as the top-performing countries in the international comparison of child welfare. Belgium was not included in the final overall ranking because insufficient data was available on mental health.
© PHOTO SABINE JOOSTEN / HOLLANDSE HOOGTE
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