An Index of Child Well-being in the European Union

While the living conditions of children and young people in the European Union have gained increasing recognition across the EU, the well-being of children is not monitored on the European level. Based on a rights-based, multi-dimensional understanding of child well-being we analyse data already available for the EU 25, using series data as well as comparative surveys of children and young people. We compare the performance of EU Member States on eight clusters with 23 domains and 51 indicators and give a picture of children’s overall well-being in the European Union. The clusters are children’s material situation, housing, health, subjective well-being, education, children’s relationships, civic participation and risk and safety.

[1]  C. Propper,et al.  The Effects of a Mother's Return to Work Decision on Child Development in the UK , 2005 .

[2]  M-P Dumont,et al.  Resilience in Adolescents: Protective Role of Social Support, Coping Strategies, Self-Esteem, and Social Activities on Experience of Stress and Depression , 1999 .

[3]  Mahabub Hossain,et al.  Income Distribution and Poverty , 1989 .

[4]  R. Lennox,et al.  Conventional wisdom on measurement: A structural equation perspective. , 1991 .

[5]  J. Tyson,et al.  Results at age 8 years of early intervention for low-birth-weight premature infants. The Infant Health and Development Program. , 1997, JAMA.

[6]  Christa Neuberger Auswirkungen elterlicher Arbeitslosigkeit und Armut auf Familien und Kinder , 1997 .

[7]  J. Brooks-Gunn,et al.  School Achievement and Failure in Very Low Birth Weight Children , 1994, Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP.

[8]  Steven R. Asher,et al.  Loneliness and Peer Relations in Childhood , 2003 .

[9]  S. Middleton,et al.  Britain's poorest children revisited : evidence from the BHPS (1994-2002) , 2005 .

[10]  José María Sarabia,et al.  Effects of income inequality on population health: new evidence from the european community household panel , 2005 .

[11]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  The Consequences of Growing Up Poor , 1999 .

[12]  D. Hay,et al.  Peer relations in childhood. , 2004, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[13]  Oecd Ocde Education At A Glance , 2005 .

[14]  U. Otto Aufwachsen in Armut , 1997 .

[15]  A. Atkinson,et al.  Taking forward the EU Social Inclusion Process , 2006, The EU and Social Inclusion.

[16]  G. Barber PHYSICAL HEALTH. , 1963, The Practitioner.

[17]  K. Roy,et al.  Family ties: constructing family time in low-income families. , 2005, Family process.

[18]  J. Brooks-Gunn,et al.  OECD SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION WORKING PAPERS Social Policies, Family Types and Child Outcomes in Selected OECD Countries , 2003 .

[19]  W. Craig,et al.  The relationship among bullying, victimization, depression, anxiety, and aggression in elementary school children , 1998 .

[20]  Oecd Indicators Education at a Glance 2007 , 2007 .

[21]  Tess Ridge Childhood Poverty and Social Exclusion , 2002 .

[22]  J. Bynner,et al.  Social exclusion and the transition from school to work: The case of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET) , 2002 .

[23]  Dana L. Kelly,et al.  International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement , 1998 .

[24]  M. T. Ruiz,et al.  Doing things together: adolescent health and family rituals , 2002, Journal of epidemiology and community health.

[25]  Sabine Walper Auswirkungen von Armut auf die Entwicklung von Kindern , 1999 .

[26]  Herwig Immervoll,et al.  Can Parents Afford to Work? Childcare Costs, Tax-Benefit Policies and Work Incentives , 2006 .

[27]  Tess Ridge The Well‐being of Children in the UK (Second Edition) , 2006 .

[28]  G. Duncan,et al.  Family poverty, welfare reform, and child development. , 2000, Child development.

[29]  Jorun Rugkåsa,et al.  Smoking and peer groups: results from a longitudinal qualitative study of young people in Northern Ireland. , 2005, The British journal of social psychology.

[30]  U. Bronfenbrenner,et al.  The ecology of developmental processes. , 1998 .

[31]  Nathalie Girouard,et al.  Investment in Human Capital Through Post-Compulsory Education and Training: Selected Efficiency and Equity Aspects , 2002 .

[32]  Marta Santos-Pais A Human Rights Conceptual Framework for UNICEF , 1999 .

[33]  A. Antonovsky Unraveling The Mystery Of Health , 1987 .

[34]  J. Baumert,et al.  PISA 2003 : der zweite Vergleich der Länder in Deutschland : was wissen und können Jugendliche? , 2005 .

[35]  M. Förster,et al.  Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries in the Second Half of the 1990s , 2005 .

[36]  G. Lansdown Promoting Children's Participation in Democratic Decision-Making. Innocenti Insight. , 2001 .

[37]  J. Ball,et al.  Psychological predictors of health-related behaviour in children , 2005 .

[38]  M. Ekstrand,et al.  Swedish teenager perceptions of teenage pregnancy, abortion, sexual behavior, and contraceptive habits – a focus group study among 17‐year‐old female high‐school students , 2005, Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica.

[39]  Kenneth C. Land,et al.  Assessing Gilligan Vs. Sommers: Gender-Specific Trends in Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, 1985–2001 , 2005 .

[40]  A. Åstrøm Stability of oral health-related behaviour in a Norwegian cohort between the ages of 15 and 23 years. , 2004, Community dentistry and oral epidemiology.

[41]  Dennis K. Orthner,et al.  The Resilience and Strengths of Low‐Income Families , 2004 .

[42]  M. Tsechkovski,et al.  WHO Regional Office for Europe , 1993, The Lancet.

[43]  Jane Waldfogel,et al.  Maternity Leave, Early Maternal Employment and Child Health and Development in the Us , 2005 .

[44]  H. Yoshikawa Prevention as cumulative protection: effects of early family support and education on chronic delinquency and its risks. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[45]  Christina Salmivalli,et al.  Prospective relations among victimization, rejection, friendlessness, and children's self- and peer-perceptions. , 2005, Child development.

[46]  Charlotte Lauer Family background, cohort and education: A French–German comparison based on a multivariate ordered probit model of educational attainment , 2003 .

[47]  W. Bor,et al.  Early adolescent smoking and a web of personal and social disadvantage , 2003, Journal of paediatrics and child health.

[48]  IEA civic education study , 2002 .

[49]  Wolfram Schulz,et al.  IEA Civic Education Study: Technical Report , 2004 .

[50]  Kenneth C. Land,et al.  Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, 1975–1998: Some Findings from a New Index , 2001 .

[51]  C. Ramey,et al.  Prevention of intellectual disabilities: early interventions to improve cognitive development. , 1998, Preventive medicine.

[52]  A. Antonovsky Unraveling the mystery of health: how people manage stress and stay well , 1987 .

[53]  R. Felner,et al.  Socioeconomic disadvantage, proximal environmental experiences, and socioemotional and academic adjustment in early adolescence: investigation of a mediated effects model. , 1995, Child development.

[54]  David Barber,et al.  Can parents afford to work , 2005 .

[55]  C. Essau Risk‐taking Behaviour among German Adolescents , 2004 .