Report: Poverty up in households with children in developed countries

[News_Editor]

Report: Poverty up in households with children in developed countries

2011-04-28 00:33:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS, FRANCE (BNO NEWS) -- Poverty in households with children is rising in developed countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday in a new report.

The report "Doing Better for Families" said the percentage of children living in poor households rose to 12.7 per cent across the OECD countries over the last decade. One in five children in Israel, Mexico, Turkey, the United States and Poland live in poverty.

According to the OECD's first-ever report on family well-being, families with children are more likely to be poor today than in previous decades, when the poorest in society were more likely to be pensioners. It added that governments should ensure that family support policies protect the most vulnerable.

"Family benefits need to be well designed to maintain work incentives, but they need to be effective in protecting the most vulnerable, otherwise we risk creating high, long-term social costs for future generations", OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said.

The report says that female employment in the OECD has also risen in the past 15 years by more than 10 percentage points, but said that further increases in women's employment may be difficult to achieve unless men help out more with housework and caring responsibilities.

"More family-friendly workplaces, equal career prospects for men and women, and a better sharing of care responsibilities not only make economic sense, they are a moral and political imperative," Gurría said.

The report also recommended governments to ensure high-quality childcare services and improve education, especially for children from poor households.

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