Where Child Poverty Is Highest (And Lowest) In The OECD
Child poverty rates vary widely across OECD economies, ranging from less than 5% in Finland to nearly 30% in Costa Rica.
This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Melissa Garside, ranks OECD countries by the share of children ages 0โ17 living below the poverty line in 2023. The poverty line is defined as half the median household income of the total population, meaning the measure is relative to living standards within each country. As a result, countries with the same poverty rate can differ in the absolute income levels of households classified as poor.
The data for this visualization comes from theย OECD Income Distribution Database. It presents 2023 data, the latest available as of August 2026, covering OECD member countries as well as Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania, which are currently in the accession process.
Costa Rica Has Highest Child Poverty Rate in OECD
Costa Rica stood well above the rest of the ranking. Its 29.6% child poverty rate was 6.4 percentage points higher than Israelโs, the next-highest country at 23.2%.
High living costs and a large informal labor market are among the factors that can leave households with children particularly vulnerable to poverty.
RankCountryLiving Below the Poverty Line
(%, Ages 0-17)
1๐จ๐ท Costa Rica29.6
2๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel23.2
3๐ช๐ธ Spain21.5
4๐บ๐ธ United States21.1
5๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria19.1
6๐ท๐ด Romania17.7
7๐ฌ๐ง UK15.8
8๐ฎ๐น Italy14.5
9๐จ๐ฆ Canada14.0
10๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg13.5
11๐ฑ๐น Lithuania12.8
12๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia12.8
13๐ต๐น Portugal12.5
14๐ญ๐ท Croatia12.3
15๐ฌ๐ท Greece12.3
16๐ซ๐ท France12.0
17๐ญ๐บ Hungary11.3
18๐ฑ๐ป Latvia10.0
19๐ฆ๐น Austria9.8
20๐ฉ๐ช Germany9.1
21๐จ๐ญ Switzerland9.1
22๐จ๐ฟ Czechia8.8
23๐ฐ๐ท South Korea8.5
24๐ธ๐ช Sweden8.4
25๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands8.4
26๐ช๐ช Estonia8.2
27๐ง๐ช Belgium7.9
28๐ต๐ฑ Poland7.8
29๐ณ๐ด Norway6.9
30๐ฎ๐ช Ireland6.8
31๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia6.2
32๐ซ๐ฎ Finland4.6
Theย child poverty rate in Israel, one of the OECD countries with the youngest populations, is highly concentrated among two groups: Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews and Israeli Arabs. Both groups have child poverty rates of nearly 50%.
One in Five American Children Live in Poverty
The United States had the fourth-highest child poverty rate among OECD countries at 21.1%, just behind Spain at 21.5%.
Despite the countryโs high overall wealth, roughly one in five U.S. children lived in households with incomes below half the national median. This illustrates the distinction between national wealth and how income is distributed among households with children.
The number of households living in poverty alsoย varies significantly by state.
Northern Europe Has Some of the Lowest Child Poverty Rates
At the other end of the scale, Finland had the lowest child poverty rate at 4.6%, followed by Slovenia at 6.2%, Ireland at 6.8%, and Norway at 6.9%.
The difference between the extremes is substantial: Costa Ricaโs child poverty rate was more than six times Finlandโs. Four countries in the ranking had rates above 20%, while 10 had rates below 9%.
Because the OECD measure is relative to each countryโs median income, these differences reflect how children fare within their own national income distribution rather than differences in absolute living standards between countries.
If you found this topic interesting, readย People With Dependent Children Face Higher Povertyย on Voronoi.
Tyler Durden
Fri, 08/14/2026 – 02:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/where-child-poverty-highest-and-lowest-oecd