Non-monetary poverty (deprivations) Another way of measuring child poverty is through identifying basic things that children lack (deprivations). For this report the intention was to follow a recent rights-based definition of material deprivation outlined by UNICEF.12 This includes rights to: 1. Nutrition 6. Education 2. Water 7. Health 3. Sanitation 8. Information 4. Clothing 9. Play 5. Housing Unfortunately, it was not possible to find satisfactory indicators to adopt this approach. This highlights a very substantial gap in international comparative data which hampers shared learning across countries. A more limited source of data on material deprivation is gathered within the EU, consisting of: (1) measures of material deprivation within households, where it is also possible to identify numbers of children affected; and (2) a child-specific material deprivation measure. Some key statistics from these indicators are shown in Table 1. The household ‘severe material and social deprivation’ measure consists of 13 items (e.g., the ability to keep one’s home adequately warm, having an internet connection or being able to replace worn-out clothes with new ones).13 Households are defined as in ‘severe’ material deprivation if they cannot afford at least 7 of these 13 items. → Column 2 shows the rate of severe material and social deprivation for children in 2022, which ranges from less than 2 per cent in Finland to over 30 per cent in Romania and affects 1 in 12 children (8.4 per cent) – 6.6 million – across the EU as a whole. → Column 3 shows, within this overall picture, the proportion of children living in poor-quality housing.14 The child-specific measure (for children under 16 years of age) consists of a list of 17 items – 12 child-specific (e.g., fresh fruit and vegetables daily) and 5 household-specific (e.g., the ability to pay bills and avoid arrears).15 If any child in the household lacks an item, then all children in that household are categorized as deprived for that item. → Column 4 shows the proportion of children who are deprived on 3 or more of the 17 items. The range is from under 3 per cent in Slovenia to over 42 per cent in Romania. Across the EU as a whole, around one in seven children are deprived on three or more items. → Column 5 shows the mean number of items (out of 17) lacked. This is above three items in all countries and as high as eight items in some. On average, across the EU, children under 16 years lack almost 5.9 out of 17 items. 15 Child Poverty in the Midst of Wealth Innocenti Report Card 18