National Statistical Service of RA CHILD POVERTY IN ARMENIA National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis 2016 CHILD POVERTY IN ARMENIA National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the participants of two stakeholder workshops convened in Yerevan in 2015 and 2016 for their help in identifying indicators and dimensions of deprivation through consultative processes as well as comment- ing on the headline results. Many thanks to Lusine Yeremyan, UNICEF Armenia M&E and Child Rights Monitoring Spe- cialist, Arpine Mazhinyan, UNICEF Armenia M&E and Statistics Assistant, and colleagues at UNICEF Armenia for their support during all stages of the study and review of the report. Special thanks to Diana Martirosova, former Head of the Household Survey Division of the National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia (NSS RA) and her colleagues at NSS RA for giving access to the survey data and for giving constructive feedback on the results. The views and find- ings in this report are the responsibility of the authors alone. Lucia Ferrone, Yekaterina Chzhen The UNICEF Office of Research - INNOCENTI 2 ARMENIA 2016 ACRONYMS AMD Armenian Dram CEE/CIS Central Eastern Europe / Commonwealth of Independent States CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child DHS Demographic and Health Survey ECEC Early Childhood Education and Care EHBS Extended Household Budget Survey EU-SILC European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions GDP Gross Domestic Product HDI Human Development Index ILCS Integrated Living Conditions Survey MIC Middle Income Country M0 Adjusted headcount ratio MODA Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis NSS RA National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia SDG Sustainable Development Goal TAG Technical Advisory Board WHO World Health Organization 3 CHILD POVERTY IN ARMENIA National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 6 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 8 2. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 10 3. RESULTS: MONETARY AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY AMONG CHILDREN ....................................................................................................... 14 4. CHILDREN AGED 0 - 5 YEARS OLD ............................................................................................ 26 5. CHILDREN AGED 6 -14 YEARS OLD ........................................................................................... 36 6.CHILDREN AGED 15 - 17 YEARS OLD ........................................................................................ 44 7. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 52 8. RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 53 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 54 ANNEX A List of dimensions and indicators selected by stakeholders after the N-MODA consultative process .............................................................................................................. 55 ANNEX B Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................... 56 ANNEX C Multivariate regressions results .......................................................................................................................... 57 4 ARMENIA 2016 Child poverty is about more than just money – it’s multidimensional. When children grow up in poverty they miss out on things most of us take for granted. For children, poverty can also mean being deprived in crucial aspects of their lives, such as nutrition, education, leisure or housing. These deficiencies go beyond monetary aspects, not only affecting the quality of their life at present but also their ability to grow to their full potential in the future. Reducing poverty is difficult, but it starts with good data and evidence based policy. The National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (N-MODA) is Armenia’s first attempt to look at the non-monetary side of child poverty, to see how both multidimensional and monetary measures can be used together to hone a holistic approach in order to reduce poverty for every child. With this analysis, we now have the unique opportunity to understand the many ways in which children and adolescents are affected by poverty; and can begin to monitor it in the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals. The analysis also carries important implications for policy making. We must work together in order to improve social protection measures; not only ensure that children are protected from risks, but also have improved access to the services they need. I am very hopeful this report will inspire others to take action and join us in the fight to end poverty for every child in Armenia. Tanja Radocaj UNICEF Representative in Armenia The first Sustainable Development Goal adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015 within the “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” resolution, is to reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions by 2030. Child poverty is significantly different from poverty that is experienced by adults. Children experience poverty through a range of deprivations that negatively affect their physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual development. Therefore, looking at child poverty only through the prism of consumption is insufficient. This indisputable fact urges researchers to look beyond traditional concepts and methods of poverty measurement and reveal the multidimensional face of child poverty. This report helps to discover the peculiarities of child poverty in Armenia through a National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (N-MODA), a tool that provides valuable insights on the complexity and depth of multidimensional child poverty. This is the first report of its kind that depicts the situation of multidimensional poverty, including its overlap with monetary poverty among children at national level. My deepest anticipation is that the results of this analysis will be used by decision makers, researchers, academia, civil society organizations and, in general, by stakeholders and the broader public. Stepan Mnatsakanyan President National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia 5 CHILD POVERTY IN ARMENIA National Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides the first comprehensive national poor water supply and heating, while housing is defined estimates of multidimensional child poverty in by crowded living space and reported housing problems. Armenia, measured using the Multiple Overlapping Leisure is measured as a combination of recreation items Deprivation1 Analysis (MODA) methodology developed and space to play. There is a sharp rural/urban divide by the UNICEF Office of Research. In addition, this report in the utilities dimension: 87 per cent of children in rural analyses multidimensional poverty together with monetary areas are deprived in utilities, a combination of poor poverty, providing estimates of the degree to which the access to water and heating. The second relevant divide two measures of child poverty overlap, and offering a is found in information: 57 per cent of rural children are comprehensive picture of child poverty in the national deprived of access to information, while this is true for context. Dimensions and indicators for this study were only one third of children in urban settings. However, there selected as the result of a broad consultative process with are no differences in leisure deprivation rates by area key stakeholders convened by UNICEF Armenia. See of residence. At the same time, there are no significant Annex A for the full list of dimensions and indicators. gender differences either in deprivation distribution or particular dimensions. Multidimensional poverty and its monitoring are part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Almost one in three children are both poor and sustainable development goals set by the post-2015 deprived. 28 per cent of children are deprived (in 2 or Development Agenda make a clear statement in Goal 1.2: more dimensions) and live in monetary-poor households. These children are the most vulnerable, and should be “By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion prioritized by social policies. At the same time, 36 per of men, women and children of all ages living cent of children are deprived, but do not live in poor households. These children need direct intervention to in poverty in all its dimensions according to tackle deprivation, and are at risk of being missed by national definitions.” policies that only address monetary poverty. The definition of national multidimensional child poverty Younger children are mostly deprived in Nutrition. indicators is therefore necessary as a tool to monitor