Children in the Bottom of Income Distribution in Europe

In the context of increasing child poverty, deprivation rates and the relative child income gap, and with the most economically vulnerable children hit extensively by the crisis (Chzhen 2014), this paper sets out to understand who are the most disadvantaged children. Analysis of the composition of the children at the bottom end of the income distribution illustrates that households with a lone parent, at least one migrant member, low work intensity, low education, or in large families are overrepresented in the first decile to different degrees in European countries. The analyses also reveal immense differences in living standards for children across Europe. In European countries included in the analyses, at least 1 in 5 children in the poorest decile lives in a deprived household. A closer look at the different dimensions of deprivation at the child-specific level, reveals what living in the poorest decile means for children’s everyday life. Children in the bottom end of the income distribution are prone to a lack of a suitable place to study or do homework. The shares of children in the poorest decile living in a household that cannot afford fruit and vegetables daily or one meal with meat or protein at least once a day are worryingly high. They can also be considered to be deprived in relation to social aspects such as insufficient resources at home to provide regular leisure activity, or to invite friends to play or eat from time to time, or to participate in schools trips and school events that cost money.