Impact of Family Benefits on Persistent Child Poverty in Estonia

The family’s economic situation is one of the fundamental components of children’s well-being. Although child poverty has been researched extensively, previous studies have mostly focused on specific points in time. This article focuses on the rate of persistent poverty among children in Estonia based on the definition put forward by Eurostat, and data from the Estonian Social Survey (ESS) covering the period from 2013 to 2018. In addition to annual poverty indicators, the Estonian dataset allows for the analysis of both persistent relative and persistent absolute poverty. For the first time, however, this analysis explores whether and to what extent family benefits help reduce persistent child poverty. In Estonia, family allowances increased in the second part of 2013, coinciding with a decrease in annual child poverty rates. This analysis aims to provide an answer as to whether this trend is the result of increased family benefits, and whether it has affected rates of persistent poverty.

Population Review

Volume 60, Number 1, 2021

Type: Article, pp. 97-118

Impact of Family Benefits on Persistent Child Poverty in Estonia

Author: Hede Sinisaar

Affiliation: Head of the Analysis and Statistics Department, Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia;

PhD candidate, Program on Sociology, School of Governance, Law and Society,

Tallinn University, Estonia

Corresponding author/address: Hede Sinisaar, Analysis and Statistics Department, Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia; email: [email protected]

Abstract

The family’s economic situation is one of the fundamental components of children’s well-being. Although child poverty has been researched extensively, previous studies have mostly focused on specific points in time. This article focuses on the rate of persistent poverty among children in Estonia based on the definition put forward by Eurostat, and data from the Estonian Social Survey (ESS) covering the period from 2013 to 2018. In addition to annual poverty indicators, the Estonian dataset allows for the analysis of both persistent relative and persistent absolute poverty. For the first time, however, this analysis explores whether and to what extent family benefits help reduce persistent child poverty. In Estonia, family allowances  increased in the second part of 2013, coinciding with a decrease in annual child poverty rates. This analysis aims to provide an answer as to whether this trend is the result of increased family benefits, and whether it has affected rates of persistent poverty.

Keywords

Estonia, persistent poverty, relative poverty, absolute poverty, family benefits, new childhood sociology, child well-being

Note:  The author has no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Acknowledgments: The author is grateful to the reviewers and the journal’s editors for their helpful comments.

© 2021 Sociological Demography Press