SOCIAL EXCLUSION : CHILDREN AT HIGHER RISK OF POVERTY.

• Position: Brief article

In 2011, 27% of children under the age of 18 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU27, compared with 24% of adults and 21% of the elderly (aged 65 and over), according to a Eurostat report published on 26 February(1).

In 2011, the highest shares of those aged less than 18 at risk of poverty or social exclusion were registered in Bulgaria (52%), Romania (49%), Latvia (44%), Hungary (40%) and Ireland (38% in 2010), and the lowest in Sweden, Denmark and Finland (all 16%).

Nearly half of all children whose parents had a low education level (lower secondary education at most) were at risk of poverty in the EU27 in 2011, compared with 22% of children residing with parents who had a medium education level (upper secondary education at most) and 7% of children with parents with a high level of education (tertiary education). In all member states, the risk of poverty for children decreased when their parents' level of education...