This paper examines the effect of the 2008 financial crisis on the children of Europe, the EU-28 plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. It attempts to see if children were more affected by the crisis than the population as a whole. Inequities among households with children were also explored, to see if those in unemployed households, migrant households, single parent families, and large families were at greater risk of poverty and deprivation than others. The paper also examines the extent to which social safety nets may have softened the negative impact of the economic crisis on children and families with children.

The effects of the financial crisis were found to be unequally distributed among households with children. In countries most affected by the crisis, Greece and Iceland, child poverty and deprivation rates rose substantially faster in unemployed households, single parent homes, and migrant families than among the population as a whole. The outcomes of this paper also argue that social safety nets and social spending did not shield children from the effects of the financial crisis.