UNICEF, World Bank warn crisis will hit Romania's children
(BUCHAREST) - The UN's child welfare agency UNICEF and the World Bank warned Tuesday that the economic crisis would have a grave effect on children and young people in Romania, a poor European Union member state.
"We estimate an increase in the poverty rate from 5.7 percent in 2008 to 7.4 percent in 2009," they said in a report, adding that children and young people up to 24 years old "face the highest risk of poverty."
The report said the impact of the economic crisis on the country's budget meant it was "highly unlikely" that the current state welfare system would protect families with children at risk of poverty.
The report also said there would be an upsurge in urban poverty because of unemployment and that the Roma minority would be particularly affected, with poverty rates rising to 42.2 percent this year.
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