Children of Europe's debtor countries pushed into poverty - charity

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Almost a third of children in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain have been pushed to the brink of poverty by austerity designed to bring down public debt, the global charity Caritas said on Thursday.

Italy and euro zone countries that have received international loans are creating a generation of poorly-fed young people with low morale and few job prospects as the number of children at risk of poverty continues to rise, the charity said, citing EU statistics.