Almost half of Argentina’s children live in poverty, a rate that has risen by 17 percent after conservative President Mauricio Macri’s first year in office, according to a new UNICEF report. About 5.6 million children live in poverty in Argentina, of which 1.3 million suffer extreme poverty, according to official statistics. Poverty affects children worse than the broader population, with 29.7 percent of people living below the poverty line, while for children and adolescents the percentage rises to 47.7 percent, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, known as INDEC. Adolescents are the poorest group, with 13 to 17-year-olds living below the pvoerty line at a rate of 51 percent, compared to 48 percent of 5 to 12-year-olds and 45 percent of 0 to 4-year-olds. The rate of child and adolescent poverty increases to 85 percent when children live in a household whose head is unemployed, and 65 percent when the head of household has an informal job. According to the report, extreme poverty mainly affects women and youth with low educational levels and challenges securing employment.
‘Almost Half of Argentina’s Children Live in Poverty, Up 17% in Macri’s First Year’, teleSUR
