Services are not enough: child well‐being in a very unequal society

Abstract

This article offers a resumé of, and reflection on, policy ideas that have emerged since the implementation of the Children Act 1989 concerning child need, vulnerability and universalism. It acknowledges the significance of working to beneficial child outcomes as both a cement to pull services into coherence and as a measure of how well our children are doing. However, children in the UK are not doing well when compared with other affluent societies. The article invites consideration of whether we are asking too much of services in the face of enduring inequality in our society.

Effects of extending disadvantaged families’ teaching of emergent literacy

“…However, the difference in effects is so great that perhaps targeting families most likely to benefit should be considered. One way to achieve this would be to take an approach of 'progressive universalism' (Rowlands 2010). A modest, reduced version of the programme could be offered to all families in a community (i.e.…”

Perfect Bedfellows: Why Early Intervention Can Play a Critical Role in Protecting Children—A Response to Featherstone et al. (2014) ‘A Marriage Made in Hell: Child Protection Meets Early Intervention’

“…But it need not be either/or: we advocate creating a fairer society as much as we support evidencebased early intervention. Early intervention programmes, including family support approaches, will always be swimming upstream in the absence of attention to structural issues (Rowlands, 2010). Moreover, if it is possible to address risk and protective factors now that will result in better outcomes we should do so.…”

Evidence-based programs in children's services: A critical appraisal

“…The former, in particular the US, make greater use of EBPs, which tend to be reactive to identified risks and proliferate in the context of limited (and often poor) universal services. Countries topping international league tables, by contrast, adopt more redistributive policies and provide universal welfare and benefits systems as a right (Rowlands, 2010). They foster a social context in which, compared with the UK, children spend more time with family and friends, engage more in active leisure pursuits and, along with their parents, are less materialistic (Ipsos MORI, 2011).…”

“…We agree that the evidence that higher societal inequalities are associated with poorer outcomes for children is incontrovertible (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). Without wider structural reforms EBPs will always be swimming against the tide in their efforts to improve child well-being (Rowlands, 2010). It is also true, as critics point out, that most EBPs originate in the US.…”