Poorly reported

According to the UN, child poverty is on the rise in the industrialized world:

But in Australia it says there has been "a significant decrease", and 14.7 per cent of Australian children now live in poverty.

The report defines poverty as having an income below 50 per cent of the national median.

The agency says its finding "suggests that between 40 to 50 million children may be growing up in poverty in some of the world's wealthiest countries."

Children have a much better chance of escaping poverty if they live in Denmark or Norway, where the rate is less than 3 per cent.

"In contrast, the United States and Mexico have child poverty rates of more than 20 per cent," the study found.

Good news for Australia but what's the deal with comparing child poverty rates in the US and Mexico? Well, the ABC left out this little disclaimer:

But the agency's regional director in Geneva, Philip O'Brien, told a news conference that definition was relative. "The child living in poverty in the U.S. is clearly not as badly off as the child in Mexico," he said.

Just so you know, the report says approximately 22 percent of US children and 28 percent of Mexican children live in poverty. This report is suspect, no?