Recently, UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2025 report was released on World Children’s Day (November 20, 2025).

Key Findings from the Report

Global Child Poverty Crisis

• Extent of Deprivation: More than one in five children in low and middle-income countries are deprived of at least two key factors essential for their health, development, and overall well-being.
• Child Poverty Remains Widespread
  • 412 million children live in extreme monetary poverty globally, surviving on less than $3 per day.
  • 417 million children suffer severe deprivation in at least two essential areas such as education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and clean water.
• Regional Concentration of Poverty:
  • Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 76% of children living in extreme poverty while hosting only 23% of global child population.
  • South Asia is the second-highest burden region. 
  • In high-income countries, about 50 million children live in monetary poverty, meaning their household has significantly less income than the average in their community.
• Conflict and Fragility Are Deepening Poverty:
  • Almost 1 in 5 children lives in a conflict-affected area.
  • In fragile and conflict-affected countries, child poverty rates are rising, unlike in stable ones.
• Extreme Climate Hazard: 
  • Four out of five children face at least one extreme climate hazard every year (heatwaves, floods, storms), which compounds poverty and puts futures at risk

India’s Specific

• India’s Child Population: India is home to approximately 460 million children under the age of 18.
• Achieving SDG 1.2: India is on track to meet SDG 1.2, which aims to reduce poverty by half in all its dimensions by 2030.
• Multidimensional Poverty Index: According to NITI Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index, India lifted 248 million people (including children) out of multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23, reducing the poverty index from 29.2% to 11.3%.

Policy Recommendations

• Inclusive Social Protection: Expand inclusive social protection programs to safeguard vulnerable families and ensure their access to basic needs.
• Access to Quality Services: Ensure equitable access to quality education, healthcare, nutrition, and sanitation for all children, especially those in marginalized communities.
• Economic Security for Caregivers: Promote decent work and economic security for caregivers to ensure children’s well-being and long-term development.
• Strategic Focus Areas: Governments are urged to prioritize child poverty reduction by embedding child rights into policies and budgets, expanding social protection programs, and ensuring equitable access to education, healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, and housing.
• Investment in Children: UNICEF stresses that investing in children is the most effective strategy for achieving long-term societal benefits.

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About the Report

• Overview: It is UNICEF’s flagship annual report that provides a comprehensive analysis of global trends affecting children and presents data, insights and policy recommendations, first published in 1980
• Purpose: The report aims to raise awareness, influence policy, and provide evidence for governments, international agencies, civil society and media on what children face globally.
• Definition of Child: The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, defines a child as any human being under the age of 18 years, unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.
• 2025 Report Title: Ending Child Poverty: Our shared imperative 

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