Hungary at midfield in UNICEF report on inequality among children

Budapest (MTI) – Hungary is near the middle in a list of 41 high-income countries that UNICEF ranked by inequality among children, the children’s rights advocacy director at the National Committee Hungary Ágnes Lux said on Thursday.

The report ranks 41 EU and OECD countries according to how far children at the bottom of the distribution fall below their peers in the middle, Lux told a press conference. It looks at bottom end inequality of income, educational achievement, self-reported health and life satisfaction in the period between 2002 and 2014, she added.

Hungary is at 21st place in the category assessing the inequality of income, the same level as Belgium, Malta and Slovenia. In the category of educational achievement Hungary is at 17th place, next to Finland, Portugal and Greece. When it comes to self-reported health, Hungary also stands at 17th place, next to the UK, Slovenia and Latvia. Regarding differences in life satisfaction, Hungary is at 15th place, next to Ireland, Malta and Bulgaria.

Lux said that in 2013, child poverty was at 15 percent in Hungary and more than half of households with children belonged to the deprived category. This means that these households were affected by at least three problem areas connected to their financial situation, such as the lack of heating, no washing machine or no car.

Regarding the overall score, Hungary is at midfield, next to Australia, Germany, Greece, Romania and Portugal.

Denmark tops the list with the least inequality between children and the last place is shared between Turkey and Israel.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters