8% of children are suffering from child-specific deprivation in Luxembourg
To monitor progress in the fight against poverty and social exclusion, LISER proposed to use at the European level an indicator taking into account accurate living conditions of the children (in comparison with the usual indicators measuring the living conditions of the household or of their parents).
The indicator is the child-specific material and social deprivation rate, which represents the proportion of children (less than 15 years) lacking (for affordability reasons) at least three of the following 17 items:
- Some new clothes
- Two pairs of shoes
- Fresh fruits & vegetables daily
- Meat, chicken, fish daily
- Suitable books
- Outdoor leisure equipment
- Indoor games
- Leisure activities
- Celebrations
- Invite friends
- School trips
- Holiday
- Replace worn-out furniture
- Arrears
- Internet
- Home adequately warm
- Car
Luxembourg is ranked 10th in the EU league, after Slovenia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Croatia, Germany and Austria
Material and social deprivation was suffered by 8% of children in Luxembourg. In the EU league, the figure shows that Luxembourg is ranked at the 10th position (instead of the 4th in 2014, the previous data collection). Furthermore, this average rate hides a large diversity among children in the country. Indeed, children living below the poverty line are much more deprived then the rest of the population of children (23%). These children who cumulates disadvantages are of particular concern.
The importance of tackling child poverty was already recognised in 2013 at the European level when the European Recommendation on Investing in Children to break the vicious circle of disadvantage was adopted. The Recommendation on the EU Child Guarantee in 2021 was a step further, as the Member States committed to guarantee free and effective access to public services such as education, healthcare, school meals and childcare and effective access to decent housing and adequate nutrition.
The role of social indicators to monitor Member States’ progress is crucial. The most appropriate way to measure children’s living conditions is to collect specific information on their living conditions, which may differ from those of their parents.
That is the reason why the EU commonly agreed indicators includes a child-specific deprivation indicator, based on information on the concrete living conditions of children in the EU, without making assumptions about the sharing of resources within the household. Such information was collected in 2009, 2014 and 2021 and will be collected each 3 years in a thematic module of EU-SILC from now. Based on a systematic item by item robustness analysis, the final list of items proposed by Guio et al. (2012) for the measurement of child material and social deprivation, subsequently confirmed by Guio et al. (2018), consists of 12 “child-specific” and 5 “household” items. Are considered as deprived, the children lacking at least three of the following items:
- Child: Some new clothes
- Child: Two pairs of shoes
- Child: Fresh fruits & vegetables daily
- Child: Meat, chicken, fish daily
- Child: Suitable books
- Child: Outdoor leisure equipment
- Child: Indoor games
- Child: Leisure activities
- Child: Celebrations
- Child: Invite friends
- Child: School trips
- Child: Holiday
- Household: Replace worn-out furniture
- Household: Arrears
- Household: Internet
- Household: Home adequately warm
- Household: Car
Only children lacking the item for affordability reasons (not due to preferences) are considered as deprived of the item. The figure presents this rate for the EU countries.
Child-specific deprivation was suffered by 8% of children in Luxembourg. In the EU league, the figure shows that Luxembourg is one of the best performers regarding the child-specific deprivation indicator. However, this average rate hides a large diversity of situations among children in the country. Indeed, children living below the income poverty line are much more numerous to be deprived (23%). These children who cumulate disadvantages are of particular concern.
*No data for Czechia, Slovakia and Poland
This indicator is computed on the basis of the data set of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). EU-SILC is the reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social inclusion in the EU.
EU-SILC is a multi-purpose instrument which focuses mainly on income. However, information on social exclusion, housing conditions, labour, education and health information is also obtained. The reference population in EU-SILC includes all private households and their current members residing in the territory of the countries at the time of the data collection. Persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population. In EU-SILC, data relating to the living conditions of children are not collected from the children themselves but from the adult answering the “household questionnaire” (household respondent). According to the survey protocol to be followed by countries, if in a given household at least one child does not have an item, it is then assumed that all the children belonging to that household lack that item. For most child-specific items, the information relates to children aged less than 15 (i.e. these items are collected in households with at least one child in this age bracket). Therefore, the child-specific material and social deprivation indicator covers only children aged less than 15. One item is collected only in households with at least one child attending school (school trips).
EU-SILC cross-sectional Users’ Data Base 2021
In Slovenia, the child-specific material and social deprivation rate reaches 3%. This means that 3% of children aged less than 15 years lack at least 3 items out of a list of 17 items.
