An expert in her field, Helen Penn discusses the inequalities between and within countries of childhood poverty and how this poverty is recognized and defined through the following case-studies:

• Kazakhstan - once part of the Soviet Union
• Swaziland - a country in Southern Africa devastated by HIV and AIDS
• Himalayan India
• Brazil - one of the world's most unequal countries.

These four case studies illustrate the diversity and complexity of the responses to the attempts to globalise childhood and highlight the need to address the inequalities of childhood experience.