Purpose – Child poverty has become an important issue in social and political agendas. In Portugal, almost 25 per cent of children are at risk of poverty and the most vulnerable age group. This paper seeks to investigate child poverty in Portugal, using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions microdata for 2004-2008. It explores the sociodemographic and economic attributes associated with child poverty in order to design the profile of income-poor children. Furthermore, it analyses social policies efficiency in reducing child poverty. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses descriptive methods as well as econometric tools to select the characteristics of income-poor children and to evaluate social policy efficiency. The estimation of a discrete choice model allows inference purposes. Findings – Results obtained show that children included in large households and in lone-parent households, are particularly at risk. Social policies undertaken had roughly impact on child poverty. Originality/value – This paper aims to contribute to the literature by establishing the profile of income-poor children, which may contribute to design more efficient policies to tackle the problem of child poverty. The policy evaluation sheds light on the results obtained by the current policies suggesting the discussion of new programs.
