فقر کودکان در چشم انداز میان ملی: درس هایی از مطالعات درآمد لوکزامبورگ

This paper draws on the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) microdata to paint a portrait of child poverty across a diverse group of countries, as of 2004–2006. We will first synthesize past LIS-based research on child poverty, focusing on studies that aim to explain cross-national variation in child poverty rates. Our empirical sections will focus on child poverty in 20 high- and middle-income countries — including three Latin American countries, newly added to LIS.

Few social and economic problems are more compelling than child poverty. While poverty is evident throughout the life cycle – affecting children, prime-age adults and the elderly – poverty among children has particular resonance. Child poverty captures our attention for several reasons: it is widely held that children need and deserve protection from hardship; most children have no control over their economic circumstances; deprivation during childhood can have lifelong consequences; and some of the effects of child poverty have spillover effects. Child poverty in rich countries is especially compelling, because it is rooted not so much in scarce aggregate resources but mainly in distributional arrangements, both private and public.