site.btaUNICEF: Child Poverty in Bulgaria Declines in 2014-2021, Still Remains Among Highest

Between 2014 and 2021, child poverty in Bulgaria declined by 8.3%, but remains one of the highest rates in the EU, at 26.1%, which means that one in four children loves in poverty. These are the findings of a report "On Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth", published by the UNICEF research office Innocenti. UNICEF Bulgaria specifies that the report looks at the welfare of children in countries from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and the European Union.

"Bulgaria has also halved the share of children living in severe material deprivation, from 42% in 2015 to 19.2% in 2022, but it is still much higher than the EU-27 average of 8.4%," UNICEF Bulgaria said.

Bulgaria was one of seven EU countries which implemented pilot projects for testing the European Child Guarantee at a national leveL with funding from the European Commission and the support from UNICEF. Between October 2020 and March 2023 the pilot project supported more than 17,000 children and 11,000 parents in Bulgaria and contributed to the development of the action plan for the implementation of the European Child Guarantee by 2030, which was adopted by the Bulgarian government in October 2022, the organization said.

In some of the richest countries in the world child poverty increased sharply between 2014 and 2021. Child poverty rose in France, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the UK. According to figures Poland and Slovenia are addressing the problem the best followed by Latvia and Korea.

The consequences of being poor may last a lifetime. Children living in poverty have a smaller chance to finish school and earn less as adults, UNICEF Bulgaria said.

UNICEF urges governments and stake holders to urgently expand the social protection for children including child benefits and family allowances.