Nairobi — More than 400 million children across the world are growing up in poverty and missing out on at least two basic needs such as nutrition and sanitation, a new UNICEF report has revealed.
The State of the World’s Children 2025: Ending Child Poverty – Our Shared Imperative shows that 417 million children in low- and middle-income countries are severely deprived in at least two critical areas for their health, development, and wellbeing.
Drawing on data from over 130 countries, the report measures child deprivation across six indicators: education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and water. It finds that 118 million children experience three or more severe deprivations, while 17 million are deprived in four or more areas.
“Children growing up in poverty and deprived of essentials like good nutrition, proper sanitation and shelter face devastating consequences for their health and development,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “It doesn’t have to be this way. When governments commit to ending child poverty by implementing effective policies, they can unlock a world of possibilities for children.”
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The findings show that the highest rates of multidimensional child poverty are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In Chad, for example, 64 per cent of children face two or more severe deprivations, and nearly one in four children suffer three or more.
Sanitation emerges as the most widespread severe deprivation globally. In low-income countries, 65 per cent of children lack access to a toilet. The figure stands at 26 per cent in lower-middle-income countries and 11 per cent in upper-middle-income countries, exposing millions of children to disease and other health risks.
In Kenya, UNICEF warns that children in rural areas are significantly worse off than their urban peers.
“The gap in multidimensional poverty between children living in urban and rural areas in Kenya is notably wide,” said UNICEF Kenya Representative Shaheen Nilofer.
“Six out of every ten children residing in rural communities are likely to experience deprivation in several critical areas. In contrast, only three out of every ten children living in urban environments face similar challenges.”
“This stark difference underscores the heightened vulnerability of children in rural settings, where access to essential services such as water, education, healthcare, housing, proper nutrition and sanitation may be more limited compared to their urban counterparts,” she added, calling for expanded social protection and better targeted, integrated policies.
Globally, there has been some progress. The share of children in low- and middle-income countries facing one or more severe deprivations fell from 51 per cent in 2013 to 41 per cent in 2023. UNICEF attributes much of this to countries placing child rights at the centre of national policies and economic planning.
However, the report warns that gains are now stalling or reversing. Conflict, climate and environmental crises, demographic pressures, rising public debt and widening technological divides are compounding poverty. At the same time, steep cuts in Official Development Assistance (ODA) threaten to deepen child deprivation.
Despite these challenges, UNICEF says there are clear examples that progress is possible.
Tanzania recorded a 46-percentage point reduction in multidimensional child poverty between 2000 and 2023, supported by government cash grants that enabled poor households to make their own financial decisions.
In Bangladesh, child poverty dropped by 32 percentage points over the same period. This was driven by increased access to education and electricity, better housing, and major investments in water and sanitation that reduced open defecation from 17 per cent in 2000 to zero in 2022.
The report underlines that poverty in childhood has life-long consequences, undermining health, learning, and future earnings, and increasing the risk of depression and anxiety. The youngest children, those with disabilities and children caught up in crises are among the most vulnerable.
Alongside multidimensional poverty, UNICEF also examines monetary poverty. It finds that more than 19 per cent of children globally live in extreme monetary poverty, surviving on less than US$3 per day. Nearly 90 per cent of these children are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
In high-income countries, about 50 million children — or 23 per cent — live in relative monetary poverty, meaning their household income is less than 60 per cent of the national median. This limits their ability to participate fully in everyday life, from schooling to social activities.
While average child poverty in 37 high-income countries fell by 2.5 per cent between 2013 and 2023, some countries have seen sharp reversals. France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom all recorded increases of more than 20 per cent in child poverty over the decade.
Slovenia, by contrast, cut its child poverty rate by more than a quarter, helped by a strong family benefits system and minimum wage protections.
The report stresses that ending child poverty is achievable if governments place children’s rights, as outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, at the heart of all poverty reduction strategies.
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UNICEF urges governments to make ending child poverty a national priority, integrate children’s needs into economic policies and budgets, and expand social protection — including cash transfers to families.
It also calls for greater investment in essential public services such as education, healthcare, water, sanitation, nutrition and housing, and for policies that promote decent work for parents and caregivers, whose economic security is closely tied to children’s wellbeing.
The report comes as many governments scale back foreign assistance. UNICEF warns, citing recent research in The Lancet, that cuts to development aid could lead to the deaths of 4.5 million children under five by 2030 and leave six million more children out of school by next year.
“Too many children were already deprived of their basic needs, even before the global funding crisis threatened to make things far worse,” Russell said.
“This is not the time to retreat. It’s a time to build on the hard-earned progress for children that has been made over the years,” she added, urging governments and businesses to maintain and increase investments in services that keep children healthy, protected and able to thrive.
