Children of Austerity: Impact of the Great Recession on Child Poverty in Rich Countries [Hardcover]

This volume examines the effects of the Great Recession on children living in the world's richest 11 countries.The 2008 financial crisis triggered the worst global recession since the Great Depression. Many OECD countries responded to the crisis by reducing social spending. Through 11 diverse country case studies (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States), this volume describes the evolution of child poverty and material well-being during the crisis, and links these outcomes with the responses by governments. The analysis underlines that countries with fragmented social protection systems were less able to protect the incomes of households with children at the time when unemployment soared. In contrast, countries with more comprehensive social protection cushioned the impact of the crisis on households with children, especially if they had implemented fiscal stimulus packages at the onset of the crisis. Although the macroeconomic 'shock' itself and the starting positions differed greatly across countries, while the responses by governments covered a very wide range of policy levers and varied with their circumstances, cuts in social spending and tax increases often played a major role in the impact that the crisis had on the living standards of families and children.1. Introduction: Scope and Methods,Yekaterina Chzhen, Sudhanshu Handa, Bea Cantillon, and Brian Nolan2. Impact of the Economic crisis on Children in Rich Countries,Yekaterina Chzhen, Brian Nolan, Bea Cantillon, and Sudhanshu Handa3. Belgium: Creeping Vulnerability of Children,Julie Vinck, Wim Van Lancker, and Bea Cantillon4. Child Poverty during the Recession in Germany,Thomas Bahle and Peter Krause5. The Impact of the Great Recession on Child Poverty in Greece,Manos Matsaganis6. Children in the Economic Crisis: Hungary,Andras Gabos and Istvan Gyorgy Toth7. Children in the Economic lS(