Osborne's cuts could have 'catastrophic' effect on children, warns Unicef Overall Britain is ranked ninth in terms of levels of deprivation - with only 5.5 per cent of children missing out on "essentials" ranging from three meals a day to games, internet access, new clothes and days out. A clutch of Scandinavian countries lead the way while deprivation levels in other major European countries such as Germany and France are almost twice as high as in Britain. On the main measure of relative child poverty - which compares how well off a family is with average incomes - Britain is 22nd in the table below France and Germany as well as Ireland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. But it reopens the debate about whether measuring child poverty in comparison to the rest of society is meaningless if the overall standard of living is rising. Two years ago a Unicef report ranked Britain among the worst places in Europe to be a child when wider measures of wellbeing were taken into account. The latest report appears to show that targeted benefits in recent years have helped improve the life chances of particularly vulnerable groups of children. Britain is ranked second only to Sweden for the lowest levels of deprivation in unemployed households and sixth among single-parent families or children of migrants. But the report points to separate research by the Institute for Fiscal studies last year which predicted that relative child poverty could reach 24 per cent in Britain by the beginning of the next decade almost two and a half times the official target. It had fallen to as low as 12.1 per cent by 2009. David Bull, Executive Director Unicef UK warned that recent achievements in lifting children out of poverty could be wiped out, with lasting consequences for a generation. "There is a very real danger of that happening and we need to be very careful to make sure that it doesn't," he said. There is only one chanced at childhood, you can never have it back again, If it goes wrong it has gone wrong permanently and permanently damaged your chances in life. We cannot allow what we hope is a temporary economic downturn to have a permanent impact on the wellbeing of a generation of children. He added: "We know that the number of children living in poverty in the UK is set to increase due to spending cuts. This will be a catastrophic blow to the futures of thousands of children, putting at risk their future health, education and chances of employment. Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Children's Society, said: "It would be a grave injustice if we allowed the burden of the current economic turmoil to fall on the shoulders of disadvantaged children. It's critical that all politicians join together to reaffirm their commitment to end the scandal of child poverty in the UK. Neera Sharma, assistant policy director at Barnardo's, said: "A coherent strategy must be put in place, in order that when the economy recovers, money can be put into services and the pockets of struggling families in a way that is maintainable and ensures better life chances for children trapped in a cycle of poverty." Sharon Hodgson, the shadow children's minister, said: "This independent report suggests that much of the good work that Labour did to address child poverty is being undermined by the Tory-led Government. It says that child poverty will actually rise next year because of the Government's policies.