evidence showed that not only was poverty among children and adolescents more rigid during business cycle upswings it was also more elastic during downswings most striking was that children and adolescents proved to be worst hit by crises despite representing a shrinking share of the total population as a result of the deepseated demographic changes occurring in the region in short child poverty decreased less than poverty in the total population and much less than that of older adults rossel eclac indicating that children and adolescents are seeing fewer benefits from the overall reduction in monetary poverty as has occurred recently