Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

Figure 2.9: Households living below the poverty line by number of children in the
household
100
%
80
60
64.9
40
48.5
55.1
33.2
20
23.7
0
0 1 2 3 4+
Number of children per household
Source: IAF, 1996/97 and 2002/03
(ii) Deprivations-based measurement
Under the standard definition of absolute poverty, children are defined as living in
absolute poverty if they face two or more severe deprivations (see Chapter I for
definition of indicators and types of deprivation). By this measure, the proportion
of Mozambican children living in absolute poverty in 2003 was 49 per cent, with
significant disparities between urban (20 per cent) and rural (63 per cent) areas, and
between children from the poorest households (i.e. the first wealth index quintile)
with 90 per cent absolute poverty, contrasted with 4 per cent among the best-off
quintile (fifth wealth index quintile).
Breaking the deprivations measure down by province reveals that the proportion of
children living in absolute poverty is highest in Zambezia (75 per cent), followed by
Sofala (59 per cent), and Nampula and Tete (55 per cent) (see Figure 2.11). Maputo
City emerges as having by far the lowest levels of poverty based on this measure.
These results contrast strikingly with those produced by the consumption-based
measure. In particular, Maputo City only recorded 3 per cent childhood poverty on the
deprivations-based measure, as opposed to 60 per cent under the consumption-based
approach. Maputo Province showed a similarly vast gulf between the two estimates.
This is explained by the fact that the consumption-based approach does not directly
capture the consumption of public services such as health, education, water and
sanitation, which are likely to be particularly concentrated in urban areas and in
particular around the seat of national Government.
50 CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS