UNITED NATIONS: India is home to over 30 per cent of almost 385 million children living in extreme poverty, the highest in South Asia, according to a new report by the World Bank Group and UNICEF.
The report ‘Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children’ said children are more than twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty.
In 2013, 19.5 per cent of children in developing nations were living in households that survived on an average of USD 1.90 a day or less per person, compared to just 9.2 per cent of adults.
Globally, almost 385 million children were living in extreme poverty.
The report said sub-Saharan Africa has both the highest rates of children living in extreme poverty at just under 50 per cent, and the largest share of the world’s extremely poor children, at just over 50 per cent.
“South Asia has the second highest share at nearly 36 per cent — with over 30 per cent of extremely poor children living in India alone,” it said, adding that more than four out of five children in extreme poverty live in rural areas.
The report said children are disproportionately affected, as they make up around a third of the population studied, but half of the extreme poor. (AGENCIES)
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