Child Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 45% of children are affected by at least one moderate to severe deprivation, which means that almost 81 million people under the age of 18 suffer from child poverty. For instance, in Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru, over two thirds of children suffer from poverty; in Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, fewer than one in four children live in poverty. Some of the areas that children are being deprived in these countries are nutrition, access to drinking water, connection to sanitation services, quality of housing and the number of people per room, school attendance and access to information and communication media. I have been to Peru and one of the things that most saddened me the most was to see children on the streets selling candies, water bottles, scarfs, hats, etc. or offering you a tour of the area just for one sol (.30 American cents) also children panhandling, and all this happening during school hours.

Reference:
ECLA-UNICEF study. (2008-2009). Child Poverty Affects almost 81 Million Children in Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved from:http://www.eclac.org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/prensa/noticias/comunicados/0/43460/P43460.xml&xsl=/prensa/tpl/p6f.xsl&base=/tpl/top-bottom.