Measuring and Monitoring Children’s Well-Being

175 Pages·2001·4.202 MB·English

by  Asher Ben-Arieh, Natalie Hevener Kaufman, Arlene Bowers Andrews, Robert M. Goerge, Bong Joo Lee, J. Lawrence Aber (auth.)

MEASURING AND MONITORING
CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING
Social Indicators Research Series
Volume 7
General Editor:
ALEX C. MICHALOS
University of Northern British Columbia,
Prince George, Canada
Editors:
ED DIENER
University of Illinois, Champaign, U.S.A.
WOLFGANG GLATZER
1. W Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
TORBJORN MOUM
University c~fOslo, Norway
JOACHIM VOGEL
Central Bureau of Statistics, Stockholm, Sweden
RUUT VEENHOVEN
Erasmus Uni1•ersitv, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
This new series aims to provide a public forum for single treatises and collections
of papers on social indicators research that are too long to be published in our
journal Social Indicators Research. Like the journal, the book series deals with
statistical assessments of the quality of life from a broad perspective. It welcomes
the research on a wide variety of substantive areas, including health, crime,
housing, education, family life, leisure activities, transportation, mobility,
economics, work, religion and environmental issues. These areas of research will
focus on the impact of key issues such as health on the overall quality of life and
vice versa. An international review board, consisting of Ruut Veenhoven, Joachim
Vogel, Ed Diener, Torbjorn Mourn and Wolfgang Glatzer, will ensure the high
quality of the series as a whole.
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
MEASURING AND MONITORING
CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING
by
ASHER BEN-ARIEH
Associate Director;
Israel National Council for the Child
NATALIE HEVENER KAUFMAN
Professor; Institute for Families and Neighbourhoods,
Clemson University
ARLENE BOWERS ANDREWS
Director; Institute for Families in Society,
University of South Carolina
ROBERT M. GOERGE
Associate Director;
Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago
BONGJOOLEE
Research Fellow,
Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago
J. LAWRENCE ABER
Director;
National Center for Children in Poverty,
Columbia University
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Measuring and monitoring children's well-being I Asher Ben-Arieh ... [et al.] ; with a
preface by Helmut Wintersberger.
p. em. -- (Social indicators research series ; v. 7)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-481-5642-9 ISBN 978-94-017-2229-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-2229-2
1. Child welfare--Evaluation. 2. Child psychology. 3. Children's rights. 4. Quality of
life. I. Ben-Arieh, Asher, 1963-II. Series.
HV713 .M43 2001
62.6--dc21
00-067184
ISBN 978-90-481-5642-9
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 200 I Springer Science+B usiness Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 200 I
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means. electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
This book is dedicated to our partners:
Hamutal Ben-Arieh, David Whiteman, Stuart Andrews, Lisa
Karron, Kyung Mi Lee and Christine B. Pendry.
It is also dedicated to our children: Oren and Nitzan, Carrollee
and Athey, Emily and Brook, Talia, Seoyun and Seoho, Nick and
Emma.
They are the reason for our well-being.
The Authors
Table of Contents
PREFACE-HELMUT WINTERSBERGER .............................................................. XI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................... XVII
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ XXI
CHAPTER 1: THE RATIONALE FOR MEASURING AND
MONITORING CIDLDREN'S WELL-BEING ............................................................. 1
THE POWER OF INFORMATION ............................................................................................. I
WHY MEASURE CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING ........................................................................ 3
The Social Measurement Movement ................................................................................. 3
Children as a Distinct Group ........................................................................................... 4
Measuring the State of Children's Well-being at Various Levels .................................... 6
BENEFITS OF MEASURING AND MONITORING ..................................................................... 7
Enhancing Knowledge ...................................................................................................... 7
Providing Tools for Better Planning ................................................................................ 8
Making Monitoring Possible ............................................................................................ 9
Knowing for the Sake ofD oing ...................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER 2: EXISTING EFFORTS AROUND THE WORLD ............................... 11
CURRENT FIELD OF CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING INDICATORS ............................................ II
Placing the Various Reports within a Framework ......................................................... 12
CENTRAL THEMES AND TOPICS OF EXISTING REPORTS .................................................... 13
Multi-issue Reports on Children 's Well-being ............................................................... 13
Single-issue Reports on Children's Well-being .............................................................. 14
Integrated-issue Reports on Children's Well-being ....................................................... 14
Themes and Domains in Reports of Children's Well-being ........................................... 15
EXISTING EFFORTS AND REPORTS ..................................................................................... 16
vii
viii
International Efforts ....................................................................................................... 16
UN!CEF ...................................................................................................................... 17
Other International Agencies and Organizations ....................................................... 18
International Projects ................................................................................................. 19
International Studies (collecting data) ........................................................................ 22
National Level Efforts .................................................................................................... 24
Government or Statutory Institutes ............................................................................. 24
Academic groups ......................................................................................................... 28
Private Foundations/NGO 's ....................................................................................... 29
Community Level Efforts ................................................................................................ 30
CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 3: UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS AND BASIC
GUIDELINES FOR MEASUIRNG AND MONITORING
CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING ....................................................................................... 33
CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS .......................................................................... 33
CHILDHOOD AS A STAGE IN ITSELF ................................................................................... 37
CHILDREN AS A UNIT OF OBSERVATION ............................................................................ 38
EMPHASIS ON POSITIVE INDICATORS ................................................................................. 40
IMPORTANCE OF SELECTING POLICY ORIENTED INDICA TORS .......................................... 41
MONITORING CHILDREN'S RIGHTS VS. MONITORING CHILDREN'S
WELL-BEING ...................................................................................................................... 42
COMBINING SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE RESEARCH ....................................................... 43
SURVIVAL OR BEYOND? .................................................................................................... 44
CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 45
CHAPTER 4: FIVE "NEW" DOMAINS OF CHILDREN'S
WELL-BEING ................................................................................................................. 47
THE NEED FOR "NEW" DOMAINS ...................................................................................... 4 7
From Survival to Well-being .......................................................................................... 48
From 'Negative' to 'Positive' ......................................................................................... 48
From 'Well-Becoming' to 'Well-being' .......................................................................... 49
From 'Traditional' to "New" Domains ......................................................................... 50
WHY FIVE DOMAINS RATHER THAN A SINGLE UNIFIED THEORY? ................................... 50
THE CONTEXT OF "NEW" DOMAINS OF CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING .................................. 52
FIVE "NEW" DOMAINS OF CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING ....................................................... 53
Children's Activities ....................................................................................................... 54
Children's Economic Resources and Contribution ........................................................ 56
Civic Life Skills ............................................................................................................... 59
Personal Life Skills ........................................................................................................ 61
Safety and Physical Status ............................................................................................. 62
IMPLICATIONS FOR CHOOSING INDICA TORS..................................................................... 64
ix
CHAPTER 5: POSSIBLE INDICATORS OF CHILDREN'S
WELL-BEING ................................................................................................................ 67
CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................... 68
CHILDREN'S ECONOMIC RESOURCES AND CONTRIBUTION .............................................• 7I
Macro-economic and Distributive Justice..................................................................... 72
Expenditures on Children.............................................................................................. 73
Access to Resources. ....................................................................................................... 74
Children Contribution and Autonomy ............................................................................ 75
CIVIC LIFE SKILLS .....................................................................................................••...... 76
Civic and Community Values and Awareness ................................................................ 77
Civic and Community Activities ..................................................................................... 78
Opportunities for Civic and Community Activities ........................................................ 79
PERSONAL LIFE SKILLS ...................................................................................................... 8I
Interpersonal Skills and Resources ................................................................................ 81
Academic Skills and Resources ...................................................................................... 83
lntrapersonal Skills and Resources............................................................................... 84
SAFETY AND PHYSICAL STATUS ..........................................................................•............. 85
Safety ............................................... .-.............................................................................. 86
Physical Status .............................................................................................................. 88
CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 89
CHAPTER 6: HOW TO MEASURE AND MONITOR
CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING ...................................................................................... 91
ADMINISTRATIVE DATA .............................................................................................•...... 92
Characteristics ofA dministrative Data .......................................................................... 92
Some Examples for Using Administrative Data ............................................................. 95
CENSUS AND SURVEY DATA .............................................................................................. 96
Characteristics ofS urvey Data ...................................................................................... 96
Some Examples for Using Census and Survey Data ...................................................... 97
PRIMARY RESEARCH ................................•......................................................................... 98
Characteristics ofP rimary Research ............................................................................. 98
Some Examples for Using Primary Research ................................................................ 99
DEVELOPING BETTER INDICATORS .................................................................................. IOO
LIMITATIONS OF DESCRIPTIVE CHILDHOOD SOCIAL INDICATORS .................................. IOI
MEASURING THE STATE OF THE CHILD: A CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE ........................ I 03
CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................•................ I 05
CHAPTER 7: MEASURING AND MONITORING CHILDREN'S
WELL-BEING AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL ..................................................... 107
COMMUNITY 0RGANIZAT ION FOR CHILD WELL-BEING .................................................. 107
MEASURING CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL ...................•......••. I09
X
HYPOTHETICAL COMMUNITY MEASUREMENT AND MONITORING
PROCESS ........................................................................................................................... Ill
CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................. 117
CHAPTER 8: MEASURING AND MONITORING CHILDREN'S
WELL-BEING AND THE MAKING OF POLICY ................................................... 119
GOALS, SUB-GOALS AND THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT ............................................ 120
CRITERIA FOR INDICA TORS .............................................................................................. 121
Validity and Relevance Criteria for Indicators of Children's Well
Being. ............................................................................................................................ 122
Policy Utility Criteria for Indicators of Children's We/1-being ................................... 123
Validity Check for Children's Well-being Indicators .................................................... 124
ASSOCIATED FACILITATING CONDITIONS ....................................................................... 125
CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................ 128
CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY AND AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE ......................... 129
WHAT WAS THIS ALL ABOUT ......................................................................................... 129
THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECT ........................................................................................ 130
THE FUTURE .................................................................................................................... 13 1
Future Research ........................................................................................................... 131
Agenda for Future Actions ........................................................................................... 133
Prospects for Community Work. ................................................................................... 133
THE CHILDREN ................................................................................................................. 133
APPENDIX 1: STATE OF THE CHILD REPORTS ................................................ 135
APPENDIX 2: MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL
PROJECT ....................................................................................................................... 139
REFERENCE ................................................................................................................. 143
INDEX ............................................................................................................................ 153
Preface
Today, any regular newspaper reader is likely to be exposed to reports on
manifold forms of (physical, emotional, sexual) child abuse on the one hand,
and abnormal behavior, misconduct or offences of children and minors on
the other hand. Occasionally reports on children as victims and children as
offenders may appear on the same issue or even the same page. Rather
seldom the more complex and largely hidden phenomena of structural
hostility or indifference of society with a view to children are being dealt
with in the press. Such fragmentary, ambiguous, incoherent or even
contradictory perception of children in modem society indicates that, firstly,
there is a lack of reliable information on modem childhood, and secondly,
children are still treated as a comparatively irrelevant population group in
society.
This conclusion may be surprising in particular when drawn at the end of
The Century of the Child proclaimed by Ellen Key as early as 1902.
Actually, there exist unclarities and ambiguities about the evolution of
childhood in the last century not only in public opinion, but also in scientific
literature. While De Mause with his psycho-historic model of the evolution
of childhood, comprising different stages from infanticide, abandonment,
ambivalence, intrusion, socialisation to support, underlines the continuous
improvement of the condition of childhood throughout history and thus
rather confirms Key's expectations, Aries, with his social history of
childhood, seems to hold a more culturally pessimistic view. Much depends
on the standpoint: whether we refer to the situation of children world-wide
or to a comparatively small number of children living in the most developed
countries; whether we refer primarily to the development of parent-child
xi