Despite progress in the past decade, Mexico has one of the highest child poverty rates in the OECD area, the second highest after Israel. In 2008 more than 1 in 4 Mexican children (25.8%) grew up in households living in relative poverty, conventionally defined as the percentage of the population earning less than half the median income. With children accounting for almost half of all Mexican poor, prolonging their marginalisation is particularly damaging as it increases the risk of a permanent damage, on top of the direct social costs caused by the loss of self-esteem and motivation. The high level of child poverty is also reflected in other standard-of-living indicators, such as child mortality (three times higher than the OECD average), maternal mortality (five times higher), and teenage births (almost four times higher).