UNICEF Innocenti Report ranks 41 EU and OECD countries, Hungary 32th

A country’s higher income does not automatically lead to a better situation for all children, and indeed inequality between them may grow, a UNICEF Hungary official said on Thursday, introducing the organisation’s annual comparative report.

The report prepared by UNICEF research office Innocenti ranks 41 EU and OECD countries in terms of child welfare, the organisation’s children’s rights advocacy director told a press conference.

The report suggests that in the countries surveyed every fifth child lives in relative income poverty and every eighth faces the danger of malnutrition, Katalin Tausz said.

Comparing the countries according to nine indicators the report ranks Hungary 32th, putting it in the bottom third on the list, she said.

UNICEF PRESS RELEASE – INNOCENTI REPORT CARD 14

(New York/Florence, 15 June 2017) 1 in 5 children in high-income countries lives in relative income poverty and an average of 1 in 8 faces food insecurity, according to the latest Report Card issued by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti.

Building the Future: Children and the Sustainable Development Goals in Rich Countries is the first report to assess the status of children in 41 high-income countries in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified as most important for child well-being. It ranks countries based on their performance and details the challenges and opportunities that advanced economies face in achieving global commitments to children.

“Report Card 14 is a wake-up-call that even in high-income countries progress does not benefit all children,” said Sarah Cook, Director of UNICEF Innocenti. “Higher incomes do not automatically lead to improved outcomes for all children, and may indeed deepen inequalities. Governments in all countries need to take action to ensure the gaps are reduced and progress is made to reach the SDGs for children.”

Key results on selected SDG indicators for children and adolescents in rich countries include:

• End poverty: On average 1 in 5 children in high-income countries lives in relative income poverty, though there is wide variation, from 1 in 10 in Denmark, Iceland and Norway to 1 in 3 in Israel and Romania.
• End hunger: An average of 1 in 8 children in high-income countries faces food insecurity, rising to 1 in 5 in the United Kingdom and the United States, and to 1 in 3 in Mexico and Turkey.
• Ensure healthy lives: Neonatal mortality has dramatically fallen in most countries; and rates of adolescent suicide, teenage births and drunkenness are declining. However, 1 in 4 adolescents reports two or more mental health issues more than once a week.
• Ensure quality education: Even in the best-performing countries, including Japan and Finland, around one fifth of 15-year-olds do not reach minimum proficiency levels in reading, mathematics and science.
• Achieve gender equality: On average, 14 per cent of adults surveyed in 17 rich countries believe that boys deserve preference for university education, and in the majority of these countries the belief is higher among males.