Children found to usually be the poorest members of refugee communities

The escalating violent conflicts worldwide have resulted in an unprecedented number of people being displaced from their home countries. A groundbreaking study conducted by Rice University reveals that refugee children face up to three times higher rates of poverty compared to adults, even within their own families.

The research, titled “Child Poverty Among Refugees,” was recently published in the esteemed journal World Development. One of the lead authors, Rossella Calvi, an assistant professor of economics at Rice University, and her team pioneered a novel computer-designed method for analyzing data from refugee camps and surrounding communities in Uganda and Kenya, which collectively house over two million refugees and asylum seekers.

This study focuses on the distribution of resources, such as food and water, within households. Its ultimate aim is to enable policymakers to effectively identify and assist the most vulnerable individuals within refugee settings.

Calvi emphasized the vital importance of gathering data on the well-being of individual refugees, particularly children, to combat poverty: “Data on the well-being of individual refugees—including children—is critical for all who seek to diminish or end poverty altogether.”

The study’s findings are distressing, revealing that children receive significantly fewer resources than adults. Consequently, they are much more likely to be trapped in poverty, even when living together with other family members who seemingly share resources. This raises the question: Why does this disparity exist?

Calvi explained that in refugee living conditions, where resources are scarce, there is often fierce competition among family members for necessities such as food, water, healthcare, and access to sanitation. An important contribution of this study is the identification of predictors of child poverty in refugee families, including a child’s age, household composition, and access to sanitation and clean water. These predictors can be easily collected by international organizations like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Based on these predictors, the study proposes relatively cost-effective approaches to targeting and mitigating child poverty in refugee settlements. Calvi believes that implementing better-designed policies to address these issues has the potential to significantly reduce inequality and poverty among refugees.

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