This article discusses the crucial role of social protection for children, focusing on a recent report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The report, titled “More than a billion reasons: The urgent need to build universal social protection for children”, highlights the alarming reality that only one in four children worldwide are protected by social measures, leaving the majority vulnerable to poverty, exclusion, and multidimensional deprivations.
The Importance of Social Protection:
A universal human right and a precondition for eradicating poverty, social protection serves as a critical foundation for the world’s most vulnerable children to reach their potential. It facilitates increased access to food, nutrition, education, healthcare, and aids in preventing child labor and early marriages. Furthermore, it addresses gender inequality, curbs domestic violence, supports household livelihoods, and alleviates stigmatization for children living in poverty.
Key Findings from the ILO-UNICEF Report:
Globally, 1.77 billion children aged between 0-18 lack access to a child or family cash benefit, an essential component of a social protection system. Children are found to be twice as likely as adults to live in extreme poverty. About 800 million children subsist below the poverty line who live on less than USD 3.20 a day, while 1 billion children experience multidimensional poverty. Protection covers only 26.4% of children aged between 0-15 years, exposing the other 73.6% to poverty and multidimensional deprivations.
Social Protection Coverage:
Child and family social protection coverage rates either declined or stagnated globally between 2016 and 2020. This trend indicates that none of the countries are progressing towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of achieving substantial social protection coverage by 2030. In certain regions like Latin America and the Caribbean, coverage rates fell significantly from around 51% to 42%.
The Risk Factor:
Multiple crises are anticipated to push more children into poverty, necessitating an immediate amplification of social protection measures. The consequences of inadequate social protection for children are both immediate and lifelong, increasing the risk of rights violations like child labor and early marriages.
The Significance of Social Protection:
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, children were over twice as likely to live in extreme poverty compared to adults. The pandemic starkly highlighted the significance of social protection as a crucial response during times of crisis. Governments worldwide either adapted existing schemes or introduced new social protection programs to support children and their families during these trying times.
Implications and Recommendations:
Urgent action is needed from policymakers towards universal social protection for all children. This includes investments in benefits that are proven effective in combating child poverty. Authorities should also provide child benefits through national social protection systems that connect families to essential health and social services. Additionally, sustainable financing for these schemes needs to be secured by mobilizing domestic resources, increasing the budget allocation for children, strengthening social protection for parents and caregivers, and guaranteeing access to decent work and adequate employee benefits.
Examination Relevance:
This topic is particularly relevant for candidates preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Exam. For instance, a previous year question asked about the International Labour Organization’s Conventions 138 and 182, which directly relate to child labour, a topic inherently tied to discussions around social protection for children.
