Barnfattigdomen i Sverige. Sammanfattning: 2012:2

A summary of the Annual Report 2012:2 on child poverty in Sweden, prepared by Professor Tapio Salonen. According to the report, 242 000 economically disadvantaged children lived in Sweden in 2010, a reduction of 0,3% in comparison with 2009 (248 000). There still are noticeable differences in child poverty rates, depending on what part of the country you live in, if the child lives with a single parent or in a two parent home, or if their parents are from Sweden or have a foreign background. It is also proven that if children grow up under these circumstances there may be a higher risk of poor health, being the victim of violence and dropping out of the school system without the skills that equip them for life. In the most economically disadvantaged areas schools are closing, hospitals are laid off, bank offices move, overcrowding in homes increases, and parents are facing particular difficulties to enter the labour market. This is a worrisome trend that affects both individual lives and our confidence in the society in which we live. 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.