History of Children’s Well-Being

Children, Adolescents and Quality of Life: The Social Sciences Perspective Over Two Decades

“…Children's happiness replaced more socially-oriented topics from before the war, such as child labour, failing educational provisions and immigration, for example (Sandin 2014 ). Another turning point is symbolised by the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and subsequent new topics of discussion: Do children have the same human rights as other human beings, or do they have different rights?…”

“…That fact makes the literature review confusing. There is a long history of social debates and changes in the meaning of child well-being (see Sandin 2014 , for a description); however, the history of children's quality-of-life studies is very short.…”

“…According to Sandin ( 2014 ), the understanding of well-being is expressed both through the institutions of education and care created for children and through discussions about what is good for children that are voiced by professional groups that claim precedence in the defi ning of well-being. Therefore, the concept of well-being is not homogeneous across countries, cultures or political regimes and is linked to the understanding of what "good life" means in each society.…”

“…Another turning point is symbolised by the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and subsequent new topics of discussion: Do children have the same human rights as other human beings, or do they have different rights? The forming of concepts such as "the best interest of the child" and "a child's perspective" mobilised children as citizens and legal subjects and emphasised children's autonomy from the family (Sandin 2014 ).…”

Negotiating Parenting Support: Welfare Politics in Sweden between the 1960s and the 2000s

“…For parents to be able to shoulder greater responsibility for their children's welfare it was claimed that they needed support (SOU 1997:161. cf. Gleichmann, 2004Wissö, 2012;Sandin, 2013;Lundqvist, 2015).…”