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The dynamics of child poverty in Sweden

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  • Matthew Lindquist
  • Gabriella Sjögren Lindquist

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study (empirically) the dynamics of child poverty in Sweden, the quintessential welfare state. We find that 1 out of every 5 children is disposable income poor at least once during his or her childhood, while only 2 percent of all children are chronically poor. We also document a strong life-cycle profile for child poverty. Just over 20 percent of all children are born into poverty. The average poverty rate then drops dramatically to about 7.5 percent among 1-year old children. After which, it declines (monotonically) to about 3.9 percent among 17-year olds. Children in Sweden are largely protected (economically) from a number of quite serious events, such as parental unemployment, sickness and death. Family dissolution and longterm unemployment, however, do push children into poverty. But for most of these children, poverty is only temporary. Single mothers, for example, are overrepresented among the poor, but not among the chronically poor. Children with immigrant parents are strongly overrepresented among the chronically poor; as are children whose parents have unusually low educations. We argue that information about the dynamics of child poverty may help policy makers to construct more salient policies for fighting child poverty.
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Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Lindquist & Gabriella Sjögren Lindquist, 2012. "The dynamics of child poverty in Sweden," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(4), pages 1423-1450, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:25:y:2012:i:4:p:1423-1450
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-010-0310-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Elena Bárcena-Martín & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana & Salvador Pérez-Moreno, 2017. "Dynamics of child poverty in the European countries," Working Papers 437, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    2. Birhanu, Mulugeta Y. & Ambaw, Birhanu & Mulu, Yohannis, 2017. "Dynamics of multidimensional child poverty and its triggers: Evidence from Ethiopia using Multilevel Mixed Effect Model," MPRA Paper 79377, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Björn Gustafsson & Torun Österberg, 2018. "How are Immigrant Children in Sweden Faring? Mean Income, Affluence and Poverty Since the 1980s," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 329-353, February.
    4. Ognjen Obućina & Ilari Ilmakunnas, 2020. "Poverty and Overcrowding among Immigrant Children in an Emerging Destination: Evidence from Finland," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(6), pages 2031-2053, December.
    5. Camilla Härtull & Jan Saarela, 2019. "Ethno-Linguistic Affiliation and Income Poverty in Native Households with Children: Finland 1987–2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 403-424, July.
    6. Adda, Jérôme & Björklund, Anders & Holmlund, Helena, 2011. "The Role of Mothers and Fathers in Providing Skills: Evidence from Parental Deaths," IZA Discussion Papers 5425, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Gabriel Brea‐Martinez & Martin Dribe & Maria Stanfors, 2023. "The price of poverty: The association between childhood poverty and adult income and education in Sweden, 1947–2015," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1281-1304, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child poverty; Chronic poverty; Poverty dynamics; I32; J13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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