U.S. Child Poverty Worst Among Richest Nations

Among the world’s rich industrial nations, U.S. children have the highest poverty rate and the greatest likelihood of living in single-parent homes, according to a UNICEF report released Tuesday.

And the living conditions of poor youngsters here were found to be far worse than those in most other industrial countries.

“With more than 1 in 5 of its children below the [poverty] line, the United States easily heads the child poverty league,” UNICEF’s annual report on the world’s children concluded. “Only four other countries--Australia, Canada, Ireland and Israel--have child poverty rates of more than 10%.”

Without government help, the report said, both the United States and France would have child poverty rates of about 25%. Through a generous social welfare system, France has reduced its rate to 6.5%, while the United States has lowered its to just over 21%.

“The average low-income child in the other 17 [industrialized] countries is at least a third better off than the average low-income American child,” the report said.

At the same time, however, the world’s richest children live in America. “The United States has failed to help its poorest children. It has basically turned its back on them, which is particularly irresponsible when you realize it’s a country of such extraordinary wealth,” UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said.

Less than 5% of all children live in poverty in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

More American children also live in single-parent homes than in any other part of the West.

Among white children born in the United States since 1980, about half spend some phase of their adolescence in a mother-only family. Among black children born here since 1980, 4 in 5 live in a single-parent home for at least part of their childhood.

In contrast, 4.4% of Italian children and 8.1% of Belgian youngsters live in single-parent homes.

Marital status also seems to have a relationship to poverty, UNICEF reported. A U.S. child living in a mother-only home is five times more likely to live below the national poverty line.

“Although many children are happier and better cared for in solo-parent families than in miserable marriages, separation and divorce are nonetheless associated with poorer school performance, greater risk of teen pregnancy, higher rates of delinquency and a worsening of the mental health of both mothers and children,” the U.N. group concluded.

The report also found that:

* Among rich industrialized nations, the United States has the highest rate of teenage births, 64 per 1,000 births, compared with Japan, with just 4, and Italy, with 9.

* Worldwide, malnutrition has been documented to be on the rise in at least nine countries--Jamaica, Bolivia, Laos, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Lesotho and Malawi. Malnutrition is critical because half of all child deaths are associated with it.

At least half of all children in South Asia are malnourished, even though the region has recently gained the know-how and capacity to overcome the problem.

* Among the 12 million children who die each year, 8 million die of causes that are preventable through immunization, iodine and salt, and water consumption.

* Many of the problems most affecting children are likely to get worse without assistance, yet foreign aid from the industrialized world has reached its lowest level of the last 20 years.

“This is a world that talks a great deal about children but is still a long way from doing as much as it says,” Bellamy asserted. “It’s very shortsighted not to invest in children at home or abroad.”