No policies are "child-neutral". Even policies which appear to have very little impact on children are likely to have a bias for, or against, the rights of the child. Trade and exchange rate policies may have a larger impact on children's development than the relative size of the budget allocated to health and education. In this discussion paper for Radda Barnen (Swedish Save the Children) Stefan de Vylder, Associate Professor in Development Economics and consultant, discusses the impact on children of general development strategies and macroeconomic policies.