Greek children increasingly living in poverty, says UN report
Children in Athens look at a Christmas tree made of milk tin cans, after donating some on December 14, 2012, during an event organized by Medecins du Monde, a non-governmental humanitarian aid organisation. Child poverty has been skyrocketing in the debt-ridden country.
Austerity measures in Greece have caused soaring unemployment and rising levels of poverty.
A new UN report says that the crisis has also left one in three children in Greece living in poverty.
UNICEF's "The state of children in Greece 2013" report said that about 597,000 children, 30.4 percent of the total number of minors in Greece, are facing impoverishment.
In 2011, that figure was at under 10 percent of children.
Over 300,000 children in the country did not receive their daily nutritional needs nor could their families cover basic costs of housing, and healthcare.
Last year 439,000 children lived in poverty in Greece.
“The situation is very worrying. The problems of poverty and social exclusion are increasing,” said UNICEF Greece President Lambros Kanellopoulos.
He added that Greek children's health and development were at risk.
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