More children in Denmark living in poverty

Over ten percent living in deprived surroundings

More children are living in poverty in Denmark compared to 2008, according to a new report by UNICEF.

The report (here in English) showed that 10.2 percent of all children in Denmark aged 0-17 live in relative poverty – an increase of 1.1 percent (over 13,000 children) from 2008.

”We like to project ourselves as a very developed nation,” Steen M Andersen, the secretary general of UNICEF Danmark, said according to Politiken newspaper.

”And we are, but compared to our Nordic brothers and sisters, we don't have much to brag about.”

READ MORE: Think-tank: More people live in poverty

Nordic brethren better
On the list of the 41 industrialised nations surveyed, Denmark's 1.1 percent rise ranked it 24th, well below fellow Nordic countries Norway (6th), Finland (8th) and Sweden (13th) – who all saw a drop in the number of children living in poverty from six years ago. Only Iceland, which saw an astonishing 20.4 percent increase, fared worse than Denmark out of the Nordic nations.

The report also showed that the number of young people aged 15-24 not taking an education increased by 1.7 to 6 percent compared to 2008.

Looking at the general overall picture of the 41 nations, the number of children in poverty has increased by 2.6 million to 76.5 million over the past six years, and one of the reasons given is the financial crisis.

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