Poverty and Child Deprivation in Belgium. A Comparison of Risk Factors in the Three Regions and Neighbouring Countries

Abstract

In this report, written for the Belgian King Baudouin Foundation, we use a new indicator for child-specific deprivation (which was officially accepted by the European Union in March 2018) to model and analyze the drivers of child deprivation in Belgium and its three regions. We compare the Belgian child deprivation data with deprivation data in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg. On that empirical basis, we propose a comprehensive set of recommendations for policy at the Belgian federal level, the regional level and the local level.

Keywords: Poverty, Child poverty, Deprivation, Child deprivation, social policy, Belgium, Belgian regions