About 28 million children in India are the first generation in their families to complete six years of schooling, according to a new Oxford University study.
Globally, 71 million children aged 10 to 17 across 108 countries have reached this educational milestone, with nearly half living in South Asia.
Of the 136 million school-age children who are out of school, 110 million – more than 80% – also live in multidimensional poverty.
Nearly half of the 518 million children under five studied experience malnutrition, multidimensional poverty or both.
The findings highlight how inadequate nutrition, limited educational opportunities and poor living conditions can overlap, reinforcing disadvantages across generations.
An Oxford University study finds that 71 million children worldwide are first-generation learners, even as 136 million remain out of school and millions more face overlapping disadvantages linked to poverty and malnutrition.
For 28 million children in India, six years of schooling mark a milestone their parents never reached. They are the first generation in their families to complete this level of education, offering a measure of hope in a world where poverty continues to deny millions of children adequate food, basic services and a place in the classroom.
A new global study by Oxford University reveals both sides of this divide: 71 million children across 108 countries have become first-generation learners, even as 136 million remain out of school, most of them living in multidimensional poverty.
The report by Oxford University's Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) found that 252 million children under the age of five in 97 countries — nearly half of those covered by the study — experienced malnutrition, multidimensional poverty or both.
The researchers analysed data on 518 million children under five, examining not only whether they received adequate nutrition but also the conditions in which they lived.
The study used data from the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and OPHI. Unlike income-based measures, the index assesses poverty through 10 indicators covering health, education and living standards.
The findings show how hunger, inadequate housing, poor sanitation and limited access to education can overlap, leaving children facing several disadvantages simultaneously.
Nearly one-third of children under five in the 97 countries studied were malnourished, according to the report.
The measure included children who were stunted — meaning they had not reached the expected height for their age — or were underweight.
About 96 million children were both malnourished and living in multidimensional poverty. This represents nearly one in five of the 518 million children under five included in the analysis.
For these children, inadequate nutrition was often accompanied by other disadvantages.
The report found that children experiencing both malnutrition and multidimensional poverty faced an average of four to five additional forms of deprivation.
These included inadequate access to education, sanitation, clean water, electricity, housing and health services.
Sabina Alkire, director of OPHI and a co-author of the study, said the overlap between different forms of child poverty highlighted the need for policies that addressed several problems together.
She argued that measures focused on a single sector were insufficient and called for approaches involving multiple sectors, including social protection programmes.
The study also examined the relationship between poverty and education.
Data from 108 countries, covering approximately 1.04 billion school-age children, showed that 136 million were out of school.
Of these, 110 million — more than 80 per cent — were also living in multidimensional poverty.
Children experiencing both poverty and exclusion from school faced an average of five additional forms of deprivation, the report found.
Overall, 31 per cent of the school-age children covered by the study were either out of school, living in multidimensional poverty or experiencing both.
The findings suggest that barriers to education extend beyond the availability of schools.
Household finances, living conditions, the education levels of family members and access to basic services can also affect children's opportunities to attend school.
The researchers found that poverty did not affect all children within the same household equally.
More than one-third of children living in multidimensional poverty experienced different outcomes from other children in their households.
For example, one child could be malnourished while another was not.
Similarly, one child might attend school while another in the same household remained out of education.
The findings suggest that assessing poverty only at the household level can overlook differences in children's individual circumstances.
They also raise questions about whether policies targeting disadvantaged households adequately account for the different needs of children within them.
The study identified a strong association between children's well-being and the education levels of adults in their households.
More than two-thirds of children living in multidimensional poverty were in households where no woman had completed six years of schooling.
By comparison, nearly half lived in households where no man had completed six years of education.
The difference was particularly pronounced among children who were both poor and out of school.
About 82 per cent of these children lived in households where no woman had completed six years of schooling, compared with 62 per cent where no man had reached that level.
The findings suggest that women's educational opportunities may be closely linked to those available to the next generation.
However, the figures establish an association rather than proving that women's education alone determines whether children attend school.
The report also found differences between girls and boys in access to education.
Across the countries studied, girls had a higher out-of-school rate than boys, although the pattern varied considerably.
In 19 countries, girls were more likely than boys to be out of school. These countries accounted for approximately 56 per cent of the out-of-school children covered by the analysis.
Afghanistan recorded the widest gap, with 67 per cent of girls out of school compared with 47 per cent of boys.
In Pakistan, the figures were 30.2 per cent for girls and 22.3 per cent for boys.
The Central African Republic recorded rates of 29.3 per cent for girls and 21.5 per cent for boys, while in Guinea, the corresponding figures were 41.3 per cent and 33.7 per cent.
However, the study found that gender differences were not consistent across all measures of children's well-being.
In many areas, boys were more affected by malnutrition than girls, suggesting that gender-related disadvantages vary according to the outcome being measured.
Despite the widespread deprivation documented in the report, the researchers also identified progress in education.
About 71 million children aged 10 to 17 across 108 countries were the first generation in their families to complete six years of schooling.
The report describes them as "pioneer children".
Nearly half lived in South Asia, where approximately one in nine children aged 10 to 17 had become a first-generation learner.
India accounted for about 28 million of these children, followed by Bangladesh with more than three million and Pakistan with nearly two million.
Nepal had approximately 837,000 pioneer children, while Afghanistan had about 508,000.
The study also found that in India, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the proportion of girls aged 10 to 17 becoming first-generation learners was higher than the corresponding proportion of boys.
However, educational progress was not always shared equally within households.
Globally, about 9 per cent of pioneer children lived in households where at least one other child of a similar age was out of school.
The findings illustrate how educational gains can coexist with continued exclusion, sometimes within the same family.
The report argues that understanding child poverty requires looking beyond household income.
Children may experience malnutrition, exclusion from education and inadequate access to clean water, sanitation, healthcare and housing at the same time.
These overlapping disadvantages can limit their opportunities later in life and contribute to the persistence of poverty across generations.
The researchers suggest that policies addressing children's needs should therefore consider nutrition, education, healthcare, social protection and basic living conditions together.
The findings also highlight the importance of identifying differences between children within the same household, rather than assuming that all family members experience deprivation in the same way.
For India, the 28 million children who have become first-generation learners represent progress in educational access.
But the wider findings show that completing six years of schooling is only one measure of children's well-being.
Ensuring that educational progress translates into better opportunities will also depend on addressing the other disadvantages that continue to shape children's lives.
