1 in 5 children in rich countries lives in relative income poverty, while an average of 1 in 8 faces food insecurity, according to the latest Report Card issued today by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti.

Despite broad economic and social progress that the world’s wealthiest countries have made in recent decades, an under-class of children is being left behind.

Building the Future: Children and Sustainable Development Goals in Rich Countries is the latest in the Innocenti Report Card series, which analyses inequality in 41 high-income countries. It looks at how far children are falling behind in the dimensions of income, education, health and life satisfaction.

Other key findings include:

• An average of 1 in 8 children in high-income countries faces food insecurity, rising to 1 in 5 in the United Kingdom and the United States.
• 1 in 4 adolescents reports two or more mental health issues more than once a week.
• 20 per cent of 15-year-olds do not reach minimum proficiency levels in reading, mathematics and science.
• 14 per cent of adults surveyed in 17 rich countries believe that boys deserve preference for university education.

This report is a wake-up call. UNICEF is urging high-income countries to take action in several key areas, most notably, to put the well-being of children at the heart of long-term development plans.

Report by Unicef