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The Association Between the Material Well-Being and the Subjective Well-Being of Children in 35 Countries

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  • Daphna Gross-Manos

    (Tel-Hai College)

  • Jonathan Bradshaw

    (Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of York)

Abstract

It is well established that child poverty has a profound, costly, and long-term impact on physical and mental health, educational attainment, and outcomes in adulthood. However, to date, while among adults a correlation between income and subjective well-being has been found, findings of such an association during childhood are mixed. This may be because the indicators available for both child poverty and subjective well-being have been limited – mainly to household incomes reported by adults and single measures of life satisfaction. This article explores the opportunities presented by the data collected in the third wave of Children’s Worlds, the school-based survey of children in 35 countries. The study employed a wider range of measures of material well-being, as well as subjective well-being, in terms of living standards in a larger range of countries. We have found that at both country comparative level, and within the country level, there is an association between material deprivation and some measures of subjective well-being, but the strength of the association varied between the country level and individual-level analyses, and across countries at the individual-level. At the macro-country level, the Family Affluence Scale was not significantly associated with most subjective well-being measures, while the deprivation scale, and a multi-dimensional measure that was developed in this paper, showed high correlations with overall life satisfaction and feelings of sadness. At the individual-level, the correlations were generally weak and varied between countries. We conclude with a discussion regarding possible explanations for these findings and their possible implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Daphna Gross-Manos & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2022. "The Association Between the Material Well-Being and the Subjective Well-Being of Children in 35 Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:15:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s12187-021-09860-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-021-09860-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bruno Martorano & Luisa Natali & Chris De Neubourg & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2013. "Children’s Subjective Well-being in Rich Countries," Papers inwopa686, Innocenti Working Papers.
    2. Gwyther Rees & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2018. "Exploring Low Subjective Well-Being Among Children Aged 11 in the UK: an Analysis Using Data Reported by Parents and by Children," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 27-56, February.
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    4. Main, Gill & Montserrat, Carme & Andresen, Sabine & Bradshaw, Jonathan & Lee, Bong Joo, 2019. "Inequality, material well-being, and subjective well-being: Exploring associations for children across 15 diverse countries," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 3-13.
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    8. William Boyce & Torbjorn Torsheim & Candace Currie & Alessio Zambon, 2006. "The Family Affluence Scale as a Measure of National Wealth: Validation of an Adolescent Self-Report Measure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 473-487, September.
    9. Maggie Lau & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2018. "Material Well-being, Social Relationships and Children’s Overall Life Satisfaction in Hong Kong," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(1), pages 185-205, February.
    10. Hansen, Kerstin F. & Stutzer, Alois, 2022. "Parental unemployment, social insurance and child well-being across countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 600-617.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Anne-Catherine Guio & Eric Marlier & Frank Vandenbroucke & Pim Verbunt, 2022. "Differences in Child Deprivation Across Europe: The Role of In-Cash and In-Kind Transfers," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(6), pages 2363-2388, December.
    3. Saswati Das & Diganta Mukherjee, 2023. "Multidimensional Deprivation from Children’s Perspectives: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(3), pages 1097-1136, June.
    4. Wilmes, Johanna & Andresen, Sabine, 2023. "The concept of needs in child well-being research: Lessons from a mixed methods study in Germany," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Aya Abe, 2024. "Are We Getting Closer to Consensus? An Analysis of Changes in Socially Perceived Necessities Over Time in Japan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 247-268, October.
    6. Eirini Leriou, 2023. "Understanding and Measuring Child Well-being in the Region of Attica, Greece: Round Five," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(4), pages 1395-1451, August.

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