Around 80% of the world's 2.2 billion children lack even the most basic social safeguards to protect them from disease, exploitation and abject poverty and to ensure they have access to basic health care and education, the U.N. reports.
In a new report made public Wednesday by UNICEF and the International Labor Organization, researchers say that 1.77 billion children up to the age of 18 lack access to a child or family cash benefit, a fundamental pillar of a social protection system. Among those, about 1.46 billion children are younger than 15.
Researchers find 1.77B children worldwide lack basic safety net
The number of children without basic social protections is increasing worldwide, UNICEF and ILO say in a new study.
Latest
WHO warns U.S. exit could undercut disease surveillance and response
Move follows year-long U.S. withdrawal process and comes as WHO members advance talks on a new pandemic agreement.
U.N. Gaza rights commission calls for access amid deadly winter toll
New leadership confronts genocide findings and a humanitarian crisis as nine children die from exposure
U.S. allies seek more independence as Trump claims Greenland deal
European leaders move toward a historic break from Washington despite a late U.S. reversal on tariff threats.
U.N. decries 'unprecedented' breach as Israeli crews demolish compound
Bulldozers dismantle UNRWA site under government supervision, deepening legal crisis over diplomatic immunity.