IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/chinre/v17y2024i2d10.1007_s12187-024-10105-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Dynamics of Inequality and Poverty Among Children in Colombia During the COVID-19 Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Zuobao Wang

    (Northeastern University)

  • Yao Chen

    (Shenyang Urban Construction University)

  • Tianrun Lin

    (Northeastern University)

  • Xinyi Xing

    (Northeastern University)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the income, inequality, and poverty levels among Colombian children between 2019 and 2020, using data from the Luxembourg Income Study Database. The income distribution and changes among Colombian children are analyzed using the probability density function and growth incidence curve. The paper utilizes the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke methodology to measure child poverty in Colombia, decomposes the contributions of different subgroups to child poverty and its changes, and conducts a growth-distribution decomposition of changes in child poverty. The study also employs income-source decomposition to examine the contributions of different income sources to child inequality and its changes. The results show that Colombian children experienced a decline in income, an increase in inequality, and higher levels of poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children from households with higher dependency ratios and those living in rural areas were more likely to experience poverty. The main driver of increased poverty among Colombian children was decreased income, and there was a significant worsening of inequality for ultra-poor children. Labor income emerged as the primary source of inequality and its changes, whereas capital income and private transfers played a role in reducing poverty. However, public social benefits slightly increased inequality levels. Overall, the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is antipoor but pro-ultra-poor. To address similar recessions in the future, the government should expand public transfer payments especially programs targeting children to reduce income inequality and alleviate poverty among children, and bolster the provision of public services essential for children’s development.

Suggested Citation

  • Zuobao Wang & Yao Chen & Tianrun Lin & Xinyi Xing, 2024. "The Dynamics of Inequality and Poverty Among Children in Colombia During the COVID-19 Recession," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(2), pages 815-843, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:17:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-024-10105-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-024-10105-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-024-10105-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12187-024-10105-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2021. "The fall in income inequality during COVID-19 in four European countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 489-507, September.
    2. Salman Syed Ali & Sayyid Tahir, 1999. "Dynamics of Growth, Poverty, and Inequality in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 837-858.
    3. Aline Bütikofer & Michael Gerfin, 2017. "The economies of scale of living together and how they are shared: estimates based on a collective household model," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 433-453, June.
    4. Ali A Ali & Ibrahim A. Elbadawi, 1999. "Inequality and the Dynamics of Poverty and Growth," CID Working Papers 32A, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    5. Gonzalo Fanjul, 2014. "Children of the Recession: The impact of the economic crisis on child well-being in rich countries," Papers inreca733, Innocenti Report Card.
    6. Manos Matsaganis & Chrysa Leventi, 2014. "Poverty and Inequality during the Great Recession in Greece," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 12(2), pages 209-223, May.
    7. Hilary W. Hoynes & Marianne E. Page & Ann Huff Stevens, 2006. "Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 47-68, Winter.
    8. Wu, Libo & Zhang, Shuaishuai & Qian, Haoqi, 2022. "Distributional effects of China's National Emissions Trading Scheme with an emphasis on sectoral coverage and revenue recycling," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    9. Elgar, Frank J. & Stefaniak, Anna & Wohl, Michael J.A., 2020. "The trouble with trust: Time-series analysis of social capital, income inequality, and COVID-19 deaths in 84 countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    10. Regier, Gregory & Zereyesus, Yacob & Dalton, Timothy & Amanor-Boadu, Vincent, 2015. "Do Adult Equivalence Scales Matter in Poverty Estimates? A Ghana Case Study," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212487, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Touhami Abdelkhalek & Dorothée Boccanfuso & Luc Savard, 2022. "Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Monetary Child Poverty in Morocco," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 15(3), pages 15-37.
    12. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 2003. "Measuring pro-poor growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 93-99, January.
    13. Carina Mood & Jan O. Jonsson, 2016. "Trends in Child Poverty in Sweden: Parental and Child Reports," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(3), pages 825-854, September.
    14. Grace Anyaegbu, 2010. "Using the OECD equivalence scale in taxes and benefits analysis," Economic & Labour Market Review, Palgrave Macmillan;Office for National Statistics, vol. 4(1), pages 49-54, January.
    15. Nanak Kakwani & Ernesto M. Pernia, 2000. "What is Pro-poor Growth?," Asian Development Review (ADR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(01), pages 1-16.
    16. Robert I. Lerman & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1994. "Effect of Marginal Changes in Income Sources On U.S. Income Inequality," Public Finance Review, , vol. 22(4), pages 403-417, October.
    17. Bigsten, Arne & Kebede, Bereket & Shimeles, Abebe & Taddesse, Mekonnen, 2003. "Growth and Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia: Evidence from Household Panel Surveys," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 87-106, January.
    18. Oihana Aristondo & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Casilda Lasso de la Vega, 2023. "Decomposing the changes in poverty: Poverty line and distributional effects," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 1048-1063, October.
    19. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Amy Crews Cutts & Mary C. Daly & Stephen P. Jenkins, 1999. "Testing the Significance of Income Distribution Changes over the 1980s Business Cycle: A Cross-National Comparison," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(3), pages 253-272, May-June.
    20. Christoph Lakner & Daniel Gerszon Mahler & Mario Negre & Espen Beer Prydz, 2022. "How much does reducing inequality matter for global poverty?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(3), pages 559-585, September.
    21. Nora Lustig & Valentina Martinez Pabon & Federico Sanz & Stephen D Younger, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Living Standards: Addressing the Challenges of Nowcasting Unprecedented Macroeconomic Shocks with Scant Data and Uncharted Economic Behavior," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 16(1), pages 1-27.
    22. Mushtaq H. Khan, 2009. "Governance, Growth and Poverty Reduction," Working Papers 75, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    23. Shorrocks, A F, 1980. "The Class of Additively Decomposable Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(3), pages 613-625, April.
    24. Panos Pashardes, 2007. "Why Child Poverty in Cyprus is so Low," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 1(2), pages 3-16, December.
    25. Brzezinski, Michal, 2018. "Income inequality and the Great Recession in Central and Eastern Europe," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 219-247.
    26. Pernia, Ernesto & Kakwani, Nanak, 2000. "What is Pro-poor Growth?," MPRA Paper 104987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    27. Thanh, Pham Tien & Tram, Nguyen Hoang Mai & Tung, Le Thanh, 2024. "Educational inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam: Implications for disadvantaged children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    28. Greg Duncan & Katherine Magnuson & Ariel Kalil & Kathleen Ziol-Guest, 2012. "The Importance of Early Childhood Poverty," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 87-98, August.
    29. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1986. "On Measuring Child Costs: With Applications to Poor Countries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 720-744, August.
    30. Anthony Shorrocks, 2013. "Decomposition procedures for distributional analysis: a unified framework based on the Shapley value," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(1), pages 99-126, March.
    31. Meltem A. Aran & Nazli Aktakke & Zehra Sena Kibar & Emre Üçkardeşler, 2022. "How to Assess the Child Poverty and Distributional Impact of COVID-19 Using Household Budget Surveys: An Application Using Turkish Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1997-2037, August.
    32. E. Bárcena-Martín & A. I. Moro-Egido & S. Pérez-Moreno, 2016. "How Income Growth Differs with Children in Spain: a Comparative European Perspective," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(2), pages 357-370, June.
    33. Angus Deaton, 2003. "Household Surveys, Consumption, and the Measurement of Poverty," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 135-159.
    34. Gabriel Montes-Rojas & Lucas Siga & Ram Mainali, 2017. "Mean and quantile regression Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions with an application to caste discrimination," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 15(3), pages 245-255, September.
    35. Glewwe, Paul & Hall, Gillette, 1998. "Are some groups more vulnerable to macroeconomic shocks than others? Hypothesis tests based on panel data from Peru," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 181-206, June.
    36. Regan, Mark & Maitre, Bertrand, 2020. "Child poverty in Ireland and the pandemic recession," Papers BP2021/4, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    37. Ali A. Ali & Ibrahim A. Elbadawi, 1999. "Inequality and the Dynamics of Poverty and Growth," CID Working Papers 32, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Lelli, 2004. "What Money Can't Buy: The Relevance of Income Redistribution for Functioning Levels," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2004-41, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Touhami Abdelkhalek & Dorothee Boccanfuso, 2023. "Is the Moroccan Fiscal System Progressive ? A Shapley Decomposition," Policy briefs on Economic Trends and Policies 2342, Policy Center for the New South.
    3. Rolf Maier, 2005. "Trade Policy and Pro-Poor Growth," International Trade 0504007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Priyabrata Sahoo & Debolina Biswas & Saswata Guha Thakurata, 2023. "Is Growth Pro-poor Among the States of India? A Poverty Decomposition Exercise During the 2000s," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 107-133, January.
    5. Mwangi S. Kimenyi, 2006. "Economic Reforms and Pro-Poor Growth: Lessons for Africa and other Developing Regions and Economies in Transition," Working papers 2006-02, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    6. repec:ocp:rpaeco:pb_42-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Chantreuil, Frédéric & Fourrey, Kévin & Lebon, Isabelle & Rebière, Thérèse, 2021. "Magnitude and evolution of gender and race contributions to earnings inequality across US regions," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 45-59.
    8. Palomino, Juan C. & Rodríguez, Juan G. & Sebastian, Raquel, 2020. "Wage inequality and poverty effects of lockdown and social distancing in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Ahmed Raza Cheema & Aqleema Noor & Jabbar Ul-Haq, 2021. "Do Foreign Remittances Lead To Inclusive Growth In Pakistan?," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 10(2), pages 198-203.
    10. Florent Bresson & Jean-Yves Duclos & Flaviana Palmisano, 2019. "Intertemporal pro-poorness," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 52(1), pages 65-96, January.
    11. Sugata Marjit & Anjan Mukherji & Sandip Sarkar, 2018. "Pareto Efficiency, Inequality and Distribution Neutral Fiscal Policy - An Overview," Discussion Papers Series 590, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    12. Sean Higgins & Nora Lustig, 2015. "Can Poverty-Reducing and Progressive Tax and Transfer System Hurt the Poor?," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 1333, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    13. repec:ocp:ppaper:pb21-24 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Rolf Maier, 2005. "Exchange Rate Regimes and Pro-Poor Growth," International Finance 0504008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Elena Bárcena‐Martin & Jacques Silber & Yuan Zhang, 2024. "Measures of Relative and Absolute Convergence and Pro‐poor Growth with an Illustration based on China (2010–2018)," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(2), pages 1-41, March.
    16. Higgins, Sean & Lustig, Nora, 2016. "Can a poverty-reducing and progressive tax and transfer system hurt the poor?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 63-75.
    17. Alaa Mohamd Shoukry & Musarrat Jabeen & Khalid Zaman & Showkat Gani & Alamzeb Aamir, 2018. "A note on poverty, growth, and inequality nexus: evidence from a panel of sub-Saharan African countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 2173-2195, September.
    18. Abdelkhalek Touhami & Dorothee Boccanfuso, 2024. "Classes moyennes au Maroc : Au-delà des perceptions, que disent les chiffres ?," Policy briefs on Economic Trends and Policies 2413, Policy Center for the New South.
    19. repec:ocp:ppaper:pb42-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Essama-Nssah, B., 2005. "A unified framework for pro-poor growth analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 216-221, November.
    21. Kraay, Aart, 2004. "When is growth pro-poor? Cross-country evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3225, The World Bank.
    22. Alma Kudebayeva & Armando Barrientos, 2013. "A decade of poverty reduction in Kazakhstan 2000-2009: growth and/or redistribution?," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 18713, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    23. Touhami Abdelkhalek & Dorothée Boccanfuso, 2023. "Is the Moroccan Fiscal System Progressive ? A Shapley Decomposition," CIRANO Working Papers 2023s-22, CIRANO.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:17:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-024-10105-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.