Measuring and Monitoring Children's Well-Being across the World

Abstract

An international initiative to measure and monitor the status of children beyond survival is an effort to use tools of the information age to promote understanding of children's life perspectives and an action to improve their condition. An interdisciplinary group proposes widespread consensus on the selection and monitoring of cross-cultural indicators to cover the following children's life domains: social connectedness, civil life skills, personal life skills that enable children to contribute to their own well-being, safety and physical status, and children's subculture. Social workers can contribute substantially to the design, collection, interpretation, and use of indicators in various arenas ranging from local to global levels.

Where are the Children? Children’s Role in Measuring and Monitoring Their Well-Being

“…Furthermore, in order to be relevant to all children, the studies design process must be rooted in the experience of all children including children of minority and disadvantaged groups (Andrews and Ben-Arieh, 1999) Children know what is important to them and subsequently they know what is important to know about their lives. Studies have shown not only that children know what is important to them -they have clear views on how those issues can and should be measured (Backe-Hensen, 2003).…”

“…This recent widespread interest in children's well-being indicators has been partly due to a movement toward accountability-based public policy that requires increasing amounts of data to provide more accurate measures of the conditions children face and the outcomes various programs achieve. At the same time, the rapid changes in family life also have prompted an increased demand from child development professionals, social scientists and the public for a better picture of children's well-being (Hauser et al, 1997;Lee, 1997;Andrews and Ben-Arieh, 1999).…”

Social Competence: Development of an Indicator for Children and Adolescents

“…Childhood has been recognized as a critical life cycle stage for the prevention of such morbidities (Andrews and Ben-Arieh 1999;Ahorn 1985), and calls have been heard for national and subnational indicators that further describe the development, circumstances, and well-being of children (Moore and Lippman 2005;Zill and Brim 1975). However, as many have noted (Moore and Halle 2001;Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics 2003), available indicators generally focus on problems.…”

Spaces of connection and belonging: young people’s perspectives on the role of youth cafés in their lives

“…It has been found that social support reduces the amount of stress that people feel because support networks act as a 'buffer' to stressful events that happen throughout the life course (Frey and Röthlisberger, 1996). Studies have also shown that social support can positively affect people's self-confidence, improve social integration (Agneessens et al, 2006) and promote a sense of 'connection' to others (Andrews and Ben-Arieh, 1999). In line with these studies, the relationships they experienced in the youth café were described by young people as enhancing their quality of life, promoting positive mental health and helping them to deal with the normative and non-normative challenges they faced in their lives (Cutrona, 2000).…”

“…There are many definitions of well-being, most of which emphasise psychological, social, educational, economic and safety dimensions (see for example, Andrews and Ben-Arieh, 1999). The social geography literature draws our attention to the role played by place in shaping or undermining well-being.…”