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The Current Evidence Base and Future Needs in Improving Children’s Well-Being Across Europe: is There a Case for a Comparative Longitudinal Survey?

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  • Haridhan Goswami

    (Manchester Metropolitan University)

  • Christopher Fox

    (Manchester Metropolitan University)

  • Gary Pollock

    (Manchester Metropolitan University)

Abstract

There has been a growing interest among academics, policy makers and practitioners in the subjective well-being of children and young people (CYP). The recognition of CYP’s rights to having a good childhood and good future life chances, coupled with the injunction from the New Sociology of Childhood to consult with CYP as active agents have also resulted in an increasing interest in the use of well-being as a key concept in policy programmes in many countries. In recent years, child well-being has become a priority for the European political agenda. However, the main challenge for the European Union (EU) is to develop the best policies and approaches to effectively improve the well-being of children and young people using the most robust and suitable sources of data. This article identifies research gaps on children and young people’s subjective well-being and discusses the policy relevance of longitudinal survey in the context of the EU strategy for CYP. It is argued that a longitudinal survey would fulfil research gaps and provide invaluable data for the European Union and its member states for monitoring and evaluation of existing policies on children and young people’s well-being and developing future polices supported by robust data.

Suggested Citation

  • Haridhan Goswami & Christopher Fox & Gary Pollock, 2016. "The Current Evidence Base and Future Needs in Improving Children’s Well-Being Across Europe: is There a Case for a Comparative Longitudinal Survey?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(2), pages 371-388, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:9:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-015-9323-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-015-9323-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christian Kroll & Jan Delhey, 2013. "A Happy Nation? Opportunities and Challenges of Using Subjective Indicators in Policymaking," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 13-28, October.
    2. Runt Veenhoven, 2002. "Why Social Policy Needs Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 33-46, June.
    3. Kenneth Land & Vicki Lamb & Sarah Mustillo, 2001. "Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, 1975–1998: Some Findings from a New Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 241-318, December.
    4. Carmel Proctor & P. Linley & John Maltby, 2009. "Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(5), pages 583-630, October.
    5. Heinz-Herbert Noll, 2013. "Subjective Social Indicators: Benefits and Limitations for Policy Making—An Introduction to this Special Issue," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 1-11, October.
    6. Ben-Arieh, Asher, 2006. "Is the study of the "State of our children" changing? Re-visiting after 5 years," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 799-811, July.
    7. Toby Fattore & Jan Mason & Elizabeth Watson, 2007. "Children’s conceptualisation(s) of their well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(1), pages 5-29, January.
    8. Asher Ben-Arieh, 2005. "Where are the Children? Children’s Role in Measuring and Monitoring Their Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 573-596, December.
    9. Sinéad Hanafin & Anne-Marie Brooks & Ed Carroll & Eithne Fitzgerald & Saoirse GaBhainn & Jane Sixsmith, 2007. "Achieving Consensus in Developing a National Set of Child Well-Being Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(1), pages 79-104, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giancarlo MANZI & Pier Alda FERRARI & Sonia STEFANIZZI, 2017. "On the Impact of the European Union in Citizens’ Perception of Quality of Life," Departmental Working Papers 2017-08, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    2. Cho, Esther Yin-Nei & Yu, Fuk-Yuen, 2020. "A review of measurement tools for child wellbeing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Knies, Gundi, 2017. "Income effects on children’s life satisfaction: longitudinal evidence for England," ISER Working Paper Series 2017-02, Institute for Social and Economic Research.

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