ДИТЯЧА БІДНІСТЬ: МАСШТАБИ ТА РИЗИКИ В КОНТЕКСТІ ПОВОЄННОГО ВІДРОДЖЕННЯ УКРАЇНИ

Abstract

The challenge of reviving Ukraine's economy after the war involves addressing numerous large-scale issues. One of the highest priorities is to decrease child poverty. This is because ensuring that children have adequate living conditions, opportunities for personal cognitive and physical growth, and the chance to fully realise themselves is crucial in the formation of a qualitatively new human capital capable of implementing an innovative model of social development in the future. It is important to monitor the true extent of the child poverty problem and to fully assess the risks it poses to the country's economic potential in the long term. The purpose of this article is to examine the dynamics of child poverty and the impact of this phenomenon on the country's economic potential. The methodological basis of the study is a statistical and sociological analysis of the living conditions of Ukrainian households. The article examines child poverty based on globallyaccepted standards, which include absolute and relative poverty measured by income, as well as poverty due to financial and social deprivation. It was noted that the general trend of the phenomenon studied remains negative and does not bring the country closer to the commitments made in the National Programme for the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Following the analysis, the identified main risks to socio-economic development and post-war recovery in Ukraine are a significant decline in birth rates and an exacerbation of the demographic crisis. Additionally, a reduction in the scale and quality of education due to poverty-induced deprivation, and social exclusion of teenagers belonging to vulnerable groups, resulting in marginalisation. Finally, an emphasis is placed on the problem of settlement poverty, which is leading to the extinction of the Ukrainian villages. The study identified key objectives for the government's socio-economic policy to reduce the effects of material and social deprivation on children and prevent potential risks.