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The Human Face Of Economic Crisis

Impact of the economic crisis on children investigated in special issue of Global Social Policy, published by SAGE in conjunction with, and with the support of, UNICEF (East Asia and Pacific Regional Office)

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (9 September 2009) — As the economy continues to unravel, a series of papers published today assess the effects of the crisis on children’s health, education, and rights in East Asia and the Pacific. Crisis for Children, a special issue of the journal Global Social Policy, asserts investments can be made that will not only advance children’s rights and break the cycle of poverty, but also safeguard countries’ future economic growth and human development.

The special issue is one of the first to provide an in-depth, rigorous social policy analysis of the impacts of the global financial crisis on children. Following a related UNICEF conference on the ‘Impacts of the Economic Crisis on Children’, held in Singapore 6–7 January 2009, the papers highlight the social policies and protection systems most needed during times of crisis.

In the Asia and Pacific region almost 650 million people live in poverty on US$1 a day or less. Recent analysis suggests that a ten percent increase in food prices could push an estimated 105 million more people into poverty in the region – a reversal of about seven years’ work of poverty reduction. 

"Poorer families in Asia spend on average 40–60 percent of their income on food alone," write UNICEF East Asia and Pacific’s regional director Anupama Rao Singh and Regional Adviser for Social and Economic Policy Mahesh Patel in their paper Global Social Policy Forum: Children and the Economic Crisis. "Add to this the fact that regional growth will slow by 4–5% – thereby creating enormous job losses – and it is apparent how this could send millions back into poverty as the full force of these crises hit Asia."
Even before the financial crisis erupted and food and fuel prices spiked in 2008, studies had shown that millions of children were at risk, according to UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) economist Ronald Mendoza in his article Aggregate Shocks, Poor Households and Children. He explains that some 219 million children in the world under five fail to reach their full potential in cognitive development due to poverty, poor health and nutrition, and deficient care.

The human development gap has a high price: if these children developed to their full potential as adults, their average incomes would be around 20 percent higher. Mendoza’s paper maps the different channels through which the effects of the economic crisis, plus volatile food and fuel prices, may be transmitted to the developing world. He warns that this series of ‘shocks’ can create poverty that lasts for generations. 

A further paper in this issue, Effects of the Crises on Child Nutrition and Health in East Asia and the Pacific, gives more detailed evidence of the serious risks that the current food, fuel, economic and financial crisis pose to child health and nutrition in the region. The authors use information on nutrition status, reportable diseases, immunization status and child mortality to estimate the impact of the current crisis. Left unaddressed, the crisis could lead to increases in maternal anaemia rates of 10–20 percent and low birth weight prevalence by 5–10 percent. What is more, childhood stunting could rise by 3–7 percent, wasting by 8–16 percent and under-five child mortality in severely affected countries from 3–11 percent. A range of low-cost and high-impact interventions exist that, if delivered in primary care settings without further delay, could mitigate or even reverse these adverse health and nutrition consequences.

"The views, evidence, arguments, and policy proposals provided in this series of papers serve as a clarion call for further discussion, debate, and action," writes Guest Editor Mahesh Patel. Amidst the overwhelming media coverage of stock market crashes and bank bailouts as this ferocious financial crisis continues, the impact on children must not be overlooked.

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Crisis for Children, a special issue of the journal Global Social Policy is published online today (Wednesday 9 September) by SAGE. For embargoed copies of the articles in this special issue email mithu.mukherjee@sagepub.co.uk
All articles in the special issue will be freely available at http://gsp.sagepub.com/ and from the UNICEF website http://www.unicef.org/. For further information about the articles, contact: Madeline Eisner, UNICEF Regional Communication Advisor, +662.356.9406 or +66.817.014.626 (cell), meisner@unicef.org

UNICEF (United Nations Childrens Fund) is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.  The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.  UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. www.sagepublications.com

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