Part 3 Social protection for children Over a decade and a half ago, the global recession of 2008–2010 showed how devastating the impact of global shocks can be for children. In the years of stability that followed, and as the previous section highlighted, many Report Card countries missed the opportunity to reduce child poverty. This is both a moral concern and a threat to the well-being of societies.32 Some countries nevertheless managed to contain or even decrease the level of poverty, including in the difficult years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. For meaningful and lasting improvements in children’s rights and well-being, governments must invest and change policies across different sectors ( for example, education, health and labour markets). ‘Social protection’ (see Box 4 for definition) is a unique tool in governments’ toolkits because it allows for the direct alleviation of poverty by supplementing household incomes. Not only does this have an immediate impact on households’ ability to meet their needs, this type of policy can also have long-term positive impacts of social protection for children’s health, nutrition and development. 33 Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth Innocenti Report Card 18