Children in persistently low-income families face significant developmental barriers, threatening the Nordic welfare model’s promise of equal opportunities. Poverty risk—particularly among migrant families—undermines social cohesion and intergenerational mobility. Fragmented, inconsistent child poverty data across Nordic countries hinders effective policymaking and cross-national learning. Without comparable data, tracking trends, identifying vulnerable groups, and evaluating interventions remains difficult.
The main goal of the project is to provide an overview of child poverty risk using EU thresholds. Post-pandemic economic pressures and migration flows make comprehensive monitoring urgent. Enhanced data systems and coordinated Nordic responses are critical for protecting vulnerable children’s futures and sustaining the region’s social sustainability commitments.
The main outcome of the project – an evidence-based chapter enabling policymakers to understand scale, monitor developments, and target interventions for children’s opportunities across Nordic countries.
Nordregio presents a concise, illustrated overview of risks facing children from persistently low-income backgrounds in the Nordic Region. Using existing statistics, researchers visualize the extent of children and youth at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
