Child poverty in Sweden – 2000

There were strong reactions when Save the Children Sweden presented ‘Barnfattigdomen i Sverige’ (Child poverty in Sweden) in March 2002 on the vulnerable financial situation of children in the 1990s. Many people were surprised, upset and sad. Surprised because they had not associated Sweden with child poverty. Upset since over 345 000 children lived in poor families in 1999, and sad about the descriptions of how this affected children’s everyday life.
This report is also based on a study by Professor Tapio Salonen, Barns ekonomiska utsatthet – 2000. It is a follow-up of the previous study and shows how children’s financial conditions have changed between 1999 and 2000. 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.