children

The Cost of Doing Nothing

Countries: United States
In this Texas community 60 percent of people live under the poverty line. The current recession may push more children into poverty. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakobjv/2779897953/in/set-72157606846695501/">Jakob Vølver (flickr)</a>
In this Texas community 60 percent of people live under the poverty line. The current recession may push more children into poverty. Photo: Jakob Vølver (flickr)

The current recession could land another three million children in poverty — with disastrous long-term consequences, according to a new report by the children's advocacy organization First Focus.

Children raised in poverty tend to have lower-than-average lifetime earnings and are much more likely than their unimpoverished peers to remain poor. First Focus cites research that says on average, children who spend more than half their life in poverty end up making 39 percent less than the median income.

Says Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus:

"If we do not act now, the current economic climate will lead to millions more children living in poverty, which will cause a severe economic loss for our nation's future. When children enter poverty at a young age, their ability to achieve the American dream is diminished. They are 13 times more likely to remain in poverty for several years after the recession ends, leading to adverse effects on lifetime earnings as well health outcomes."

The ultimate cost of those additional impoverished children to the U.S. economy? More than $1.7 trillion, according to the group.

The Real North Korean Crisis

Topics: Food, Agriculture
Countries: North Korea

When you think of North Korea, you may first think of the ongoing nuclear weapons debates and political squabble with the U.S. Yet according to the latest United Nations report, the most significant problem affecting North Koreans is the current shortage of food there.

The UN report found that more than three-quarters of North Korean families have cut their food intake to two meals per day. Even city dwellers are facing higher food prices. A recent Time magazine article says many children have stopped attending school due to hunger, while their parents search for food instead of going to work.

North Korea hasn’t seen such a devastating food crisis since the 1990s, when a famine took more than a million lives. Time blames the government for the current food shortage. In the 1990s, government officials privatized food distribution to some extent so that farmers could sell grains and food throughout the country. The result was that famished North Koreans could still find food. But in 2005, according to Time, the government broke up these markets and confiscated grain from farmers, leading to the current shortfall of production. Destructive floods in 2007 further hampered the country's agricultural production.

The UN also reported a rising number of children suffering from malnutrition and diarrhea. The food crisis guarantees more hunger-related deaths according to an expert on North Korean economy at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

North Korea’s leadership does not want to pursue market reform according to Nicholas Eberstadt, a North Korea expert at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. He says allowing open markets to emerge in the state dominated food distribution sector would imply a significant change of Pyongyang’s policies. Major reforms are not a part of North Korean culture or government, a regime that requires government permission to own a cell phone or computer. However, without changes in policy and perhaps even ideology, Eberstadt predicts that North Koreans will continue to experience health-related problems if the government is unable to provide basic necessities such as food.

The World Food Program has expanded their food aid program in North Korea in hopes of reaching 6.5 million people. Without additional help from donor countries, North Koreans may see the 1990s famine repeat itself.

Indonesia's Inflation Orphans

Topics: Economic Development
Countries: Indonesia

Most of us cringe at hearing the word inflation. It takes a toll on everyone's pocketbook, but for many Indonesians, it is also tearing families apart.

Many Indonesian parents are being forced to place their children in orphanages. In a country where 100 million people live on less than a dollar a day, skyrocketing costs of food and fuel are making it difficult for families to feed themselves. Childcare institutions offer the children not only food, but also an education and the chance at a brighter future.

"I know my children are angry with me, but I try to convince them that is the best choice for us.… As a mother I want to take care of my children but I cannot be selfish. I want the best future for them, so I have no choice," said Tinor Niang, a mother who brought her two sons to an orphanage in central Jakarta nine years ago.

Only 6 percent of the 500,000 Indonesian children in childcare institutions are orphans, according to a recent report released by Save the Children in conjunction with UNICEF and the Indonesian government. Many of the institutions were understaffed, the report found, with nearly half running on less than $10,000 a year. When not being schooled, the children were found cooking and cleaning while caring for themselves and those younger than them.

While rising costs put financial pressure on parents, the children bear the price emotionally. "I just want to be with my parents, even if it means I cannot get an education," says 13-year-old Yulianto who has spent half his life in an orphanage.

Some parents argue that education is worth the emotional toll. "I just want him to get a proper education," says one mother who had to take her 11-year old to an orphanage. "I hope that one day he'll do something useful for this country and help his brothers, because we are living in poverty."

From the Archives

The Children Are Smiling but There's So Much More to Do

Countries: Liberia
Previously filed under: Africa, Interviews
In 2006 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated as the first women president of Liberia. Her priority is to bring good governance back to this war-torn region.

From the Archives

The Case for Universal Education

Previously filed under: General Globalization
Universal access to education is vital to the future health and well-being of our global society.

From the Archives

More than Micro

Previously filed under: Opinions and Editorials
Ritu Sharma of the Women's Edge Coalition argues for the economic empowerment of women worldwide.

From the Archives

Building the Village Education Project

Countries: Ecuador
Previously filed under: South America, Success Stories
In Ecuador, public education costs money, and many families do not have the resources to send their children to school.

From the Archives

Gender Equality and Child Survival Linked

Previously filed under: Africa, Health
The report, State of the World Children 2007, finds that "healthy, educated and empowered women have healthy educated and confident daughters and sons."

From the Archives

AIDS in Zimbabwe - One Orphan's Story

Previously filed under: Africa, Health
A child is left to provide for her siblings after her parents die of AIDS.

Stories We're Watching

As Growth Slows, India Awakens to Need for Foreign Investment

International Herald Tribune - Wed, 02/08/2012 - 08:26
India’s central bank and economic analysts predict that growth will fall sharply to 7 percent this fiscal year and remain sluggish.

Social responsibility and a new world order

Washington Post - Innovations - Tue, 02/07/2012 - 07:56
Just before the New Year, the London-based Center for Economics and Business Research announced that Brazil had overtaken the United Kingdom as the world’s sixth largest economy. Furthermore, it predicted that by 2020, India and Russia will also have overtaken all the European economic powers.

Aid for trade policy rears its ugly head

The Guardian's Poverty Matters - Mon, 02/06/2012 - 01:41
The UK government's dismay at not being granted the contract for Typhoon fighter jets in India is an indication that its controversial aid for trade policy is still very much alive.

Liberia's battle to put the lights back on

The Guardian's Poverty Matters - Sun, 02/05/2012 - 23:00
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has set ambitious targets to restore the country's electricity supply. But will it meet them by 2015?

As Africa's consumers rise, so does inequality

Yale Global Online - Fri, 02/03/2012 - 10:17
Kenya struggles to spread the wealth from rapid growth.

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