Barnfattigdomen i Sverige. Årsrapport 2003. Sammanfattning

This report summarises the second annual update of the study carried out by Professor Tapio Salonen at the request of Save the Children Sweden – “Barns ekonomiska utsatthet under 1990-talet. Bidrag till ett kommunalt barnindex” (The economic vulnerability of children in Sweden during the 1990s. Contribution to a national child welfare index), which examined child poverty trends in Sweden during the 1990s. The present report provides an overview of child poverty rates in 2001 and the changes in economic development and child well-being in the past year (2000 to 2001). A special analysis on child poverty trends in Sweden’s largest cities/city suburbs is also included in the report. Child poverty is defined on an index combining two factors – low levels of relative income or living with income support (a guaranteed minimum level established by the Swedish Parliament in 1998). Save the Children Sweden has worked to raise awareness of child poverty in Sweden since releasing its first report in 2002 calling for a national action plan to address the issue and combat the growing incidence of child poverty. The studies on child poverty are a first step towards a child index, which would annually reflect changes in various aspects of children’s welfare at the municipal level