#3 - JRL 7236
Nearly three-quarters of Russian families with children live in poverty
ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 23 June: About 70 per cent of families with children in Russia are below the poverty threshold, Deputy Prime Minister Galina Karelova said today in conversation with reporters.

According to her figures 472,800 Russian families "are in a socially vulnerable position". These families have a total of 866,000 children, she said.

Last year 681,000 children ended up with the law-enforcement agencies, she said. Of them about 40,000 "were in such a desperate social or psychological condition that they were unwilling to accept any kind of help at all".

There were 50,000 minors on the wanted list last year, Karelova said, of whom 47,300 were found.