UNICEF office of research - Innocenti, has surveyed the well-being of children in 41 of the developed countries that are part of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of income, education, health and life satisfaction. The results are absolutely appalling at a holistic level.
The stark disparity between the rich and poor children is quite alarming and this ever so widening gap is at its highest over the last 30 years, as per the UNICEF child poverty index.
"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.
Innocenti Report Card 13, Fairness for Children: A league table of inequality in child well-being in rich countries, is based on measuring the growing inequality between children at the bottom and those in the middle of high income countries.
The top three spots in the list of 41 countries belong to Norway, Iceland and Finland. These three nations have the smallest gaps. The worst and bottom three countries on this list were Mexico, Bulgaria and Romania.
"Countries like Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria and Switzerland do best overall, while countries like the United Kingdom and the United States are right in the middle. At the same time, at the bottom of the overall ranking, we have countries like Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria and Italy," said Yekaterina Chzhen, UNICEF social policy economic specialist.
According to the UNICEF study, this growing inequality could result in far-reaching consequences for society, harming educational prospects, key health outcomes as well as economic growth.
After announcing the results of the study, Innocenti suggested a few actions that the governments of the respective countries could take to minimize this disparity gap and strengthen the wellbeing of its children. These include protecting poorest children's household income, promoting and supporting healthier lifestyle for children belonging to lower income groups, and providing better educational infrastructure for disadvantaged learners.
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