site.btaBulgaria among High-Income Countries Most Affected by Child Poverty - UNICEF Report

On World Children's Day, October 20, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued its flagship report on The State of the World’s Children 2025: Ending Child Poverty - Our Shared Imperative, drawing attention to the voices and personal experiences of children. According to the report, more than 1 in 5 children in low- and middle-income countries – or 417 million – are severely deprived in at least two vital areas critical for their health, development, and wellbeing. Even in high-income states, about 50 million children live in monetary poverty, and Bulgaria has the fourth highest rate among these countries. 

The report draws on data from over 130 low- and middle-income countries to assess the breadth of multidimensional poverty by measuring deprivations across six categories: education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and water.

The data for Bulgaria shows that despite a drop in the rate of child monetary poverty in the 2003-2013 period, the rate remains high. Over 28% of children in Bulgaria live in monetary poverty, which places Bulgaria fourth among high-income countries. The rate of child monetary poverty is higher only in Uruguay, the USA, and Spain.

However, Bulgaria is among the top ten countries to have achieved a significant progress in reducing this rate. Back in 2013, it stood at 32%.

UNICEF Representative in Bulgaria Christina de Bruin said, as quoted by UNICEF, that overcoming child poverty is a matter not only of resources but also of political priorities and better efficiency and integration of policies. UNICEF welcomes Bulgaria's commitment to the ambition national goal of lowering the number of children at risk of poverty and social inclusion by 197,000 by 2030. UNICEF continues to support the national efforts to improve children's wellbeing and guarantee the necessary support for the most vulnerable, including through the European Child Guarantee, she noted.