Fewer children at risk of poverty
Leisure activities is the only form of quality of life lacked by Icelandic children to any significant degree. Photo: Ómar Óskarsson
In 2014, one in ten children in Iceland lived in households classified as “at risk of poverty”, according to a new report by Statistics Iceland. The 2014 figure (10%) is 2.2 percentage points lower than the previous year.
Iceland fifth best in Europe
The report, entitled ‘Social indicators: The quality of children’s lives’, looks at the percentage of children in Iceland in three categories of household: at risk of poverty, suffering material deprivation, and experiencing great difficulties making ends meet. In 2013, Iceland had the fifth best score as regards the percentage of children at risk of poverty, but scores just the Eurozone average when it comes to the percentage of children in homes experiencing great difficulties making ends meet.
Poor score on leisure activities
Iceland also scores very well in the report’s analysis on the percentage of children aged 1-15 deprived of specific goods. The one exception is access to leisure activities: in 2014 just under a third of children in Iceland were deprived of regular leisure activities, way up on the 2009 figure of 14.3%.
The full text of the report (all tables and graphs in English) can be found here.
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