BUENOS AIRES, May 1 (UPI) -- More than half of children and teenagers in Argentina live in poverty, with the crisis hitting hardest in the greater Buenos Aires region, according to a new report that highlights the country's persistent social and economic struggles.
The report by the Social Debt Observatory at Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina found that 53.6% of children and adolescents in the country lack sufficient household income to meet basic needs.
The situation is even more severe in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, home to more than 23% of the country's population, where 6 out of 10 children live in poverty.
Researchers said the figures show child poverty remains a long-term structural problem in Argentina.
The report found child poverty affected 45.2% of children and adolescents in 2010. Conditions improved in 2011 and 2012, when rates fell to 35.7% and 38.4%, respectively, but poverty began to rise steadily afterward.
