IMF Working Papers

Rising Child Poverty in Europe: Mitigating the Scarring from the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Jean-Jacques Hallaert, Iglika Vassileva, Tingyun Chen

June 30, 2023

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Format: Chicago

Jean-Jacques Hallaert, Iglika Vassileva, and Tingyun Chen. Rising Child Poverty in Europe: Mitigating the Scarring from the COVID-19 Pandemic, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2023) accessed November 8, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Child poverty increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 alone, the number of children suffering from poverty in the EU increased by 19 percent, or close to 1 million. Left unaddressed, this would not only affect individuals’ life prospects and well-being but also have long-term economic implications. This paper argues that, to limit this potential scarring effect of the pandemic, policies should be deployed to reduce rapidly the number of children affected by poverty and mitigate the long-term impact of poverty. Reducing the number of children affected by poverty can be achieved by (i) labor policies and reforms that increase parental work and the labor income of poor parents and (ii) fiscal spending on family and children that can have a powerful and immediate impact. These policies need to be complemented by public investment in education and childcare, health, and housing to mitigate the long-term impact of child poverty.

Subject: COVID-19, Expenditure, Health, Income, National accounts, Poverty, Poverty Reduction, Social protection spending

Keywords: C. measuring poverty, Child poverty, COVID-19, EU assistance, Europe, Income, Labor income, Poverty reduction, Scarring effect, Social protection spending, Summary plot

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    60

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2023/134

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2023134

  • ISBN:

    9798400244896

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941

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