BBC Homepage World Service Education
BBC Homepagelow graphics version | feedback | help
BBC News Online
 You are in: Business
Front Page 
World 
UK 
UK Politics 
Business 
Market Data 
Economy 
Companies 
E-Commerce 
Your Money 
Business Basics 
Sci/Tech 
Health 
Education 
Entertainment 
Talking Point 
In Depth 
AudioVideo 

Wednesday, 11 October, 2000, 06:20 GMT 07:20 UK
Child poverty soars in eastern Europe
Poor children in Romania
Poverty has soared in the past decade
By Fiona Werge

Fifty million children are living in poverty in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, according to a new report.

The study, from the European Children's Trust, says that hunger and poverty in the countries of the former Soviet Union are now at levels approaching those in the developing world.

Within the region, the numbers of those living in poverty are more than 12 times what they were 10 years ago.

The Trust, an international development organisation, warns that with winter approaching, the situation threatens to reach crisis proportions.

Millions below breadline

The Trust says more than 168 million people were living below the bread line in 1993 to 1995, the latest available figure.

Russian child
Children have been hit hard by the crisis
That's an increase from 14 million at the collapse of communism.

The Trust believes the situation is now far worse.

The proportion of the population living in poverty is as high as 88% in Kyrgyzstan and between 60 and 66% in Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Moldova.

Children become 'orphans'

The report, called The Silent Crisis, highlights the plight of children.

It warns that poverty is driving social breakdown with many families having to leave their children in state orphanages to ward off malnutrition.

Russian rouble
Russia suffered economic meltdown in 1998
The Trust says a crisis has been building since the old communist system disappeared.

It claims a sudden relaxation of price controls, coupled with widespread privatisation of industry produced economic meltdown.

Production fell, inflation soared and the safety nets provided by the old regime simply evaporated.

The Trust suggests that rather than direct aid, the West should help the expansion of services preventing family breakdown.

Search BBC News Online

Advanced search options
Launch console
BBC RADIO NEWS
BBC ONE TV NEWS
WORLD NEWS SUMMARY
PROGRAMMES GUIDE
See also:

20 Sep 00 | Business
World Bank warns of poverty crisis
14 Sep 00 | Business
Attacking world poverty
04 Sep 00 | Business
The UN and world poverty
27 Mar 00 | Features
Crucial times for Russia's economy
14 Mar 00 | Business
World Bank: Listen to poor
13 Dec 99 | Europe
Child poverty worsens - Unicef
20 Nov 99 | World
UN: Save the children
22 Jul 99 | Africa
Debt 'killing children'
Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page.


E-mail this story to a friend

Links to more Business stories