COVID-19 Puts 86 Million Children At Risk Of Poverty - Study

Experts say that the impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic on economies across the globe could cause not less than 86 million children into poverty at the end of 2020.

The study that brought about this grim prediction was conducted by UNICEF and Save the Children.

This figure would make the total number of kids pushed into poverty rise to 672 million, which is a significant increase of 15 percent from 2019.

The study also states that almost two-thirds of the children predicted to live in poverty will emerge from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, “The scale and depth of financial hardship among families threatens to roll back years of progress in reducing child poverty and to leave children deprived of essential services."

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Inger Ashing of Save the Children said, “we can prevent and contain the pandemic threat facing the poorest countries and some of the most vulnerable children."

Adding that the kids are “highly vulnerable to even short periods of hunger and malnutrition — potentially affecting them for their whole life."

The two bodies have enjoined governments to double down on social security and school feeding programmes to curb the impact of the novel coronavirus on their vulnerables.