TORONTO, Dec. 3 /CNW/ - A landmark report by the UNICEF Innocenti
Research Centre, Report Card 9: The Children Left Behind, has found that children in many rich nations suffer greater inequality
than children in other industrialized nations. Canada performs at a
mediocre level overall, but lags far behind in equality of children's
material well-being which includes family income and other basic
resources and conditions necessary for child development - placing 17th
of 24 countries.
Report Card 9: The Children Left Behind ranks, for the first time, 24 OECD countries in terms of equality in
children's health, education and material well-being. The report looks
at a particular aspect of disparity - bottom-end inequality - and asks
how far behind affluent nations allow their most disadvantaged children
to fall.
The approach of The Children Left Behind is to measure the gap between the average child (what a country may
consider 'normal') and the child near the bottom. As such, the report
examines how far children are falling behind in three dimensions of
their lives - material well-being, educational achievement and physical
health - and means we can measure and compare, for the first time, the
differences in performance both within and between countries. (The full list of countries at bottom)
Greece, Italy and the United States, for example, are seen to be
allowing their most vulnerable children to fall much further behind
than countries like Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The report argues that the consequences of 'falling behind' are
enormous for children, as they are for the economy and societies.
Canada's performance is in the middle of the pack.
"With stronger public policy, Canada can rise above its mediocre
performance and leave no child behind," says Marv Bernstein, Chief
Advisor, Advocacy, UNICEF Canada. "The level of family income is a
major influence on all aspects of child well-being. Canada should
address income inequality by promoting fairly paid and highly skilled
employment and through sufficient and fairly distributed benefits and
taxation. We also need to ensure health, education and other services
reduce, rather than widen, disadvantage among our children."
The report also finds that:
-
Switzerland has the least inequality in material well-being, closely
followed by Iceland and the Netherlands. The highest relative gaps are
reported in Slovakia, the United States and Hungary. Canada, however,
has a wide equality gap in this dimension of child material well-being,
with greater family income disparity than most OECD countries, ranking
17th of 24 nations.
-
Canada ranks near the top among the countries with the greatest equality
in children's educational achievement overall, placing third.
Inequality in children's educational achievement outcomes (in reading,
math and science literacy) is lowest in Finland, followed by Ireland
and Canada. It is highest in Belgium, France and Austria.
-
The lowest levels of inequality for health are registered in the
Netherlands, followed by Norway and Portugal, while the widest gaps are
found in Hungary, Italy and the United States. In Canada, the degree of
inequality in child health is average, or 9th among 24 OECD nations.
According to Bernstein, Canada can achieve greater equality with some
practical and affordable steps that would make a real and lasting
difference for children: establish a national Children's Commissioner; report regularly on the
state of children; provide Canadians a clear account of public
expenditures on children with a children's budget; set a national child
poverty reduction strategy; close the gap between Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal children; and apply a Child Impact Assessment to policy
decisions affecting children.
The report also notes that the heaviest costs are paid by the individual
child. But the long list of problems also translates into significant
costs for society as a whole. Unnecessary bottom-end inequality
prepares a bill, which is quickly presented to taxpayers in the form of
increased strain on health and hospital services, on remedial
schooling, on welfare, and on the justice system.
The Children Left Behind suggests a practical response by showing that some countries are much
better at limiting inequality for their children than others. At the
same time, the report shows a number of examples where countries who
rank best in median levels of achievement also rank best in reducing
inequality. It is, therefore, argued that greater equality can be
achieved without sacrificing efficiency and economic performance.
Countries measured and compared in Report Card 9 'The Children Left Behind': Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Seven (7) other OECD countries - Australia, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New
Zealand, Republic of Korea and Turkey - are also included in the
Report, but are not given a group ranking as they did not have enough
data for at least one of the three dimensions measured.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is the world's leading child-focused humanitarian and development
agency. Through innovative programs and advocacy work, we save children's lives and secure their rights
in virtually every country. Our global reach, unparalleled influence on
policymakers, and diverse partnerships make us an instrumental force in
shaping a world in which no child dies of a preventable cause. UNICEF
is entirely supported by voluntary donations and helps all children,
regardless of race, religion or politics. For more information about
UNICEF, please visit www.unicef.ca.
About the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre:
The Innocenti Research Centre works as UNICEF's dedicated, independent research
centre. Based in Florence, Italy, Innocenti pursues research in two
thematic areas: Social and economic policies and children, and Child
protection and implementation of international standards for children.
Email this
Share on Facebook
