Why Child Poverty in Rich Countries Is Rising
November 5, 2025 · Frisian News
Child poverty rates have climbed sharply across wealthy nations over the past five years, driven by housing costs, wage stagnation, and cuts to family benefits. Governments claim to fight the problem while their policies make it worse.
A child in Amsterdam sleeps in a storage closet because her family cannot afford rent in any neighborhood they can reach by bus. Her mother works full time as a cleaner. This scene repeats across Western Europe, North America, and Australia. Official figures show child poverty has risen by 8 to 15 percent in most OECD nations since 2020, reversing a decade of modest gains.
Housing swallows the money that used to feed and clothe children. Landlords have turned rental homes into investment vehicles, and governments have done nothing to stop it. A single parent earning minimum wage can spend 60 to 75 percent of income on rent, even in secondary cities. Wages have barely moved since 2010. Grocers charge more. Heating oil costs more. The math does not work. Families skip meals or move into overcrowded shared housing where children get sick more often and miss school.
Governments cut benefits at the exact moment families need them most. The Netherlands trimmed child allowances. Sweden means-tested benefits that once reached working poor. Australia reduced payments to single parents. Britain froze child tax credits while inflation ate their value. Politicians call these moves "fiscal responsibility" and "targeting resources to those who truly need help." What they mean is they would rather cut than tax wealth.
The wealthy nations that claim to cherish childhood and investment in human capital refuse to spend money on it. A child born into poverty in 2025 has worse odds of escaping it than a child born in 1995. That tells us something is broken. Not in families. Not in children. In the choices made by those with power.
No major political party treats child poverty as an emergency requiring real money and real change. They make announcements, fund pilots, create bureaucracy. They do not build homes. They do not raise wages. They do not restore what they cut. Until that changes, expect more children sleeping in closets.
In bern yn Amsterdam slapet yn in opslagromte om't syn famylje gjin hûr betelle kin yn in buert dy't te berikken is mei de bus. Syn heit wurket folltiden as schiener. Dizze senè werhealt him yn hiel West-Jeropa, Noard-Amerika en Australje. Amtlike sifers toanju oan dat bernearmoede sûnt 2020 mei 8 oant 15 prosint is stigen yn de measte OESO-lannen, wêrtroch in dekade fan beskaat foarútgong wurde omdraaid.
Hûsfolding ferslint it jild dat earsttiids bern voede en klaaide. Ferhûrlju hawwe wenten yn ynvestearringsobjekten feroare, en regeringen hawwe neat dien om it tsjinholde. In âlder mei ien bern dy't minimumleager fertsjinnet, jout 60 oant 75 prosint fan it ynkommen oan hûr út, sels yn sekundêre stêden. Leagen binne sûnt 2010 amper stigen. Winkels rekkenje mear. Stokolje kostet mear. De rekkening giet net op. Famyljes slaan atens oer of ferhuze nei oervulde dielde húsfolding wêr bern faaks syk wurde en skoalle misse.
Regeringen snije útkeringen krekt op it momint dat famyljes se it hertelst nedich hawwe. Nederlân skrep barne-aftrek. Swegen betsjinne testa foardielen dy't ienris wurkjende ierren berikten. Australje redusearre útkeringen oan alinne steande âlders. Grate-Britanje befroaze barne-belestingtegoed wylst inflaazie de wearde opiet. Politisy neame dizze stappen "fiskale ferantwurdlikhied" en "middels rjochte op dyjingen dy't wirklik help nedich hawwe." Wat sy tinke is dat sy eger snije as fermogen belaste.
De ryke lannen dy't sizze bernettijd en minsklik kapitaal nei te striefen wegerje der jild yn út te jaan. In bern dat yn 2025 yn iermoede borren wurde, hat slechter kansen om deroan te ûntkommen as in bern dat yn 1995 borren wurde. Dat seit wat oer wat kapot is. Net yn famyljes. Net yn bern. Yn de keuzes dy't troch machhavers wurde makke.
Gjin grutte politike partij behannelt berne-iermoede as in neasituaasje dy't echte útjeften en echte feroaring fereasket. Se make oankundichingen, finansje pilotproekten, meitsje boargersky. Se bouwe gjin huzen. Se ferheegje gjin leagen. Se stelle net werom wat se snije. Oant dat feroaret, ferwutsje mear bern dy't yn opslagromten slape.
Published November 5, 2025 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân