Children‘s Deprivation and Economic Vulnerability in Iceland 2009 and 2014

In this article we study changes in children’s deprivation and economic vulnerability between 2009 and 2014 using Icelandic EU-SILC data. The timeframe allows us to draw conclusions about the effects of the Great Recession on children’s well-being in Iceland. Children’s deprivation is operationalised using UNICEF’s EU-MODA approach and an indicator of economic vulnerability is derived from equivalent disposable incomes, material deprivation and the ability to make ends meet, using Latent Class Analysis. Our findings point to problems using the child specific indicators provided in the 2009 and 2014 ad-hoc modules of the EU-SILC to study differences within affluent countries. Our analyses of economic vulnerability indicate that children were sheltered less from the Great Recession than the general population and certain vulnerable groups. Furthermore, children from single parent households and children living in households receiving disability benefits were more affected by the recession than children from other types of households. Lastly, our findings suggests that conditions in the Icelandic housing market, specifically the rising housing cost burden, was the main driver of changes in economic vulnerability of children between 2009 and 2014, mediating almost 50% of the increase in children’s economic vulnerability between these two points in time.