If you can follow along, that is. ;-)
And don't ask me to quote my sources if they are not already included. I forgot to note some of them. That's just me. Here we go...
India has more orphans than any other nation. Africa has the greatest proportion of orphans, the majority of whom have lost their parents to AIDS. It is hard to find an accurate number for how many orphans exist in the US because many children are not technically orphans; they are in foster homes or are up for adoption but not technically orphans. Every statistic I found on it was a guess. The numbers varied so much that I gave up trying to figure it out.
This is quoted from a Christian blog about orphans:
"There’s a broad range of seemingly contradictory numbers floating around the Internet regarding the estimated number of orphans in the world. So we figured it’d be best to go to the source. The following clarification comes thanks to help from a gracious friend of a friend at the U.N.
- The official 2008 estimate from UNICEF (based on 2007 data) is 145 million orphans in the world. For this number, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents....
- Since most people think of an orphan as a child who has lost both parents, these numbers can seem a bit misleading.
- Included in the 2008 estimate of 145 million orphans are more than 92 million that have a surviving mother—-with whom they most likely live.
- Another 38 million have a surviving father.
Now, I am not going to poo-poo that number, because 15 million orphans is a mind-blowing number in itself. I always thought of an "orphan" as a child who has lost both parents. In my mind, I am sticking with that definition. I am sure that many of the children with one surviving parent as defined by UNICEF need assistance such as food, shelter, and medical attention because they are living in extreme poverty. It just seems to me that they should be classified as children with one surviving parent, not orphans.
Here is more...
Taken from an article in China Daily 10/25/2010:
"The number of orphans in China has grown by almost a quarter since 2005, to 712,000."
2005 was the year that the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs published statistics on orphans in China. This had never happened before.
Taken from an article written in 2006 by Joshua Zhong, owner of our adoption agency:
"...a one year study sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, the School of Social Development and Public Policy of Beijing Normal University, and Britain’s Save the Children Foundation revealed that there are about 573,000 orphaned children under the age of 18 in China...
The report reveals that 86% of parentless orphans are living in the countryside. 450,000 children, or
79%, are living with relatives. Province-wise, Henan has the largest orphan population – about
50,000" [Samuel lives in Henan] "Interestingly, the study showed that fewer than 69,000 orphans are living in Chinese orphanages, compared with 450,000 living with their relatives. More than 50% of children under orphanage care are children with special medical needs. The report defined an orphan as “someone whose parents are both deceased or someone has no parents to care for him or her.” It never mentions the term “abandoned child.” It is a reasonable guess, based on my personal knowledge of Chinese orphanages, that a very high percentage of the children living in orphanages are abandoned children. It is also a very reasonable guess that some 54,000 orphans (573,000 total orphans minus those 450,000 living with relatives and 69,000 living in orphanages) are living outside the orphanages and belong to the abandoned children category. What is their status? How are they being cared for? Have they been unofficially adopted domestically (the kind of adoption without legal paperwork) or are they living with non-orphanage affiliated foster homes? Or have they simply disappeared into the community? The report does not offer any answers.
... around 25,000 children were adopted domestically last year,...
Sadly, the report does point out that the situation is concerning for orphans who have been adopted
by their relatives or orphans living with “adoptive families.” 21st century Chinese family values are
I say let's just take the number of orphans in the world and make it minus 2!
changing enormously. Traditionally, Chinese viewed the adoption of deceased relatives’ children as
a familial obligation, but this is being replaced by a sense of passive charity or “doing a favor.”
Therefore, abuse and neglect of these adopted children are not uncommon. According to the report, fewer than 293,000 orphans – only about half of the China’s orphans – receive a basic government subsidy. More than 200,000 orphans receive no regular governmental financial aid. Overall, almost 300,000 orphans, about 55%, need additional help, because “in many places, the financial aid an orphan receives is less than one quarter of the cost of raising a child. In some cases, the aid is less than 10% of what a child needs to live.”
For example, consider the following table:
Orphanages in these areas: Receive this amount per child per year:
Orphanages in these areas: Receive this amount per child per year:
Municipalities like Beijing, Shanghai, or Tianjin 3,000-4,000 RMB (about $500)
Henan, Gansu, and Ningxia provinces 1,000 RMB (about $120)
Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces 600 RMB (about $80)
Seven unidentified provinces 300-500 RMB ($50)
Two other provinces 200 RMB (less than $30)
Qinghai – the poorest province 110 RMB ($12)
The report itself represents a breakthrough in the long Chinese government tradition of information
secrecy, especially on sensitive issues like orphans and orphanages....
I say let's just take the number of orphans in the world and make it minus 2!
