Ianina Tunon: Child Poverty Increasing Due to Pandemic Impact

Ianina Tunon affirms that the pandemic had an impact on the increase in child poverty. “Many children who came from the middle and popular sectors had to begin to be beneficiaries of school, food and community aid,” said the UCA researcher in Modo Fontevecchiaby Net TV y Radius Profile (101.9).

If in Argentina the child poverty indicators show that 6 out of 10 children are poor, taking into account that there are different ways of measuring poverty and to put ourselves in perspective, what would the real number be in a country like Brazil?

Poverty can be measured in different ways. Monetary poverty, which is what we are experiencing in this case, it may not represent the way of life of a childbut it is the official way of measuring it.

When we measure it through multidimensional characteristics, in the exercise of multiple rights, we can also say that 6 out of 10 children are deprived of access to at least one right. Therefore, the ways of approaching it may be different, but the incidence is the same.

The multidimensional poverty survey is used in many countries of Latin America and allows us open the poverty box and see what co-responsibilities exist, realize what aspects are not working in education, health, feeding, living place and in the different facets that make up the life of a child. Income is important, but it is not the only thing. Argentine society has to guarantee health, education and socialization to all the children of his country.

I find it contrasting to see that Argentina has higher poverty numbers than Paraguay, and yet many immigrants come from there to our country. I understand that there are many elements, such as health or public education, that are fundamental beyond salary.

Also is true that the thresholds that each country has are different. Our thresholds are probably more demanding, but when one compares the education indicators, what one observes is that we are falling behind. It may be that the starting point was higher, so that we are at the top of many educational indicators, but it is clear that The countries of the region are making very important progress and we have stagnated.

Poverty brings illiteracy, until when?

There is no doubt that we are stagnating and that many Latin American countries are advancing. But that we have more poor than Paraguay puts the statistics into discussion….

Discuss the definitions.

Has this latest increase in poverty meant even greater growth in the youngest?

This magnitude that speaks of almost 8 million boys must be recognized as a heterogeneous population. They are not all equally poor, although we classify them in the category of poverty. There are children who are below the line of destitution. There are guys who are in conditions of more chronic poverty and structural that are those who experience situations of food insecurity and they are much more homogeneous.

In these cases, the policy with the transfer of income and aid with food, directly or indirectly, have contained the situation. When you look at the rates for this population, you see them much more stable over the last 12 years, with increases since the pandemic. Then we have boys in a intermediate situation who are also vulnerable to access to food and other rights, but who do not experience dramatic situations or hunger.

The quality of their food has decreased and they are beneficiaries of school and community subsidies. Besides they are usually boys with a tendency to be obese and overweight because of the low nutrients they receive. Finally, we have guys who are very close to the poverty line and they go in and out. These boys are integrated, they use the school and the state health. What is new in this sector is that come from popular middle classes who, as of the pandemic, begin to be beneficiaries of food, school and community aid.

Is there a demographic effect from how the Argentine population pyramid is built? Does the pyramid age in certain sectors and stay younger in others?

We had an opportunity that was a Demographic bonus that we do not take advantage of It was the possibility of investing more in childhood for a drop in birth rate. Likewise, boys are concentrated in the lowest social sectors of the population.

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