In France, thousands of children are forgotten by public statistics

Children living on the streets, out of school, disabled, or going hungry: the situation of several thousand children in France remains off the radar of the political agenda due to a lack of reliable public statistics, according to UNICEF. a report published on Thursday, January 29, 2026. “ The lack of comprehensive, reliable data covering the entire territory, as well as systematic monitoring, still prevents us from guaranteeing the effective exercise of the rights of all children.", according to the UN agency. “ Thousands of them remain largely invisible in public statistics, and therefore in public policies adapted to their needs." she adds.

76 indicators to address this lack of data

To try to address this gap, UNICEF has set up a children's rights observatory which has analyzed 76 indicators spread across 12 themes: education, health, mental health, child protection, poverty, migration, nutrition, digital, early childhood, children's opinions, demography and environment.

“ Poverty and housing constitute a major emergency", with nearly 32,000 children living without a home or in hotels and 38 homeless children who died in 2024, notes the Observatory in its first report which is based on data " government agencies, international organizations, national and international investigations“.

“ These situations directly infringe upon children's fundamental rights to survival, health and development." she believes. Certain fundamental rights remain insufficiently guaranteed" , like the right to sufficient food, with nearly 23% of the children interviewed stating that they do not eat three meals a day.

Read also More than one in four children under the age of five lives in "severe food poverty," according to UNICEF.

Another cause for concern is the right to education which is not guaranteed for everyone" . " Several thousand children remain out of school, without any national statistical visibility.“. As for the overseas territories, they remain severely under-documented, laments the UN agency, and this " while the needs there are often greater“. In 2024, 1860 children were placed in administrative detention in Mayotte, illustrating persistent violations of children's rights and a major breach of territorial equality", according to UNICEF.