IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v116y2014i2p567-591.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bridging the Gap: Conceptual and Empirical Dimensions of Child Wellbeing in Rural Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Valadez Martinez

Abstract

While conceptualizations of child wellbeing usually include multiple dimensions and complex notions, measurements of child wellbeing often tend to be simpler. This mismatch between concepts and measurements is often rooted in a limitation in the instruments that were originally conceived to assess child wellbeing. This paper aims to help in closing this gap by proposing a model that measures child wellbeing in a multi-dimensional way. With the aid of structural equation modeling (SEM), the model examines the physical health, cognitive ability, motor co-ordination, and emotional competence of around 2,000 children aged four to 6 years in poor rural communities in Mexico. Data is extracted from the Household Evaluation Survey-2003 (Encuesta de Evaluación de Hogares, ENCEL-2003). This paper concludes that further investments in the measurement of child wellbeing are needed, particularly in relation to subjective wellbeing, time use, and the role of children within the household and in society. Nevertheless, while more data is collected, this paper also concludes that SEM appears to be a great aid in exploring multiple dimensions of child wellbeing simultaneously. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Valadez Martinez, 2014. "Bridging the Gap: Conceptual and Empirical Dimensions of Child Wellbeing in Rural Mexico," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 567-591, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:116:y:2014:i:2:p:567-591
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0289-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11205-013-0289-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-013-0289-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Bradshaw & Petra Hoelscher & Dominic Richardson, 2007. "An Index of Child Well-being in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(1), pages 133-177, January.
    2. Timothy J. Hatton & Richard M. Martin, 2010. "The effects on stature of poverty, family size, and birth order: British children in the 1930s," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 157-184, January.
    3. Di Tommaso, Maria Laura, 2007. "Children capabilities: A structural equation model for India," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 436-450, June.
    4. Mare, R.D., 1982. "Socioeconomic effects on child mortality in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 72(6), pages 539-547.
    5. Bloom, B. & Dawson, D., 1991. "Family structure and child health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 81(11), pages 1526-1527.
    6. Guang Guo & Kathleen Harris, 2000. "The mechanisms mediating the effects of poverty on children’s intellectual development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 431-447, November.
    7. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    8. McDonough, Peggy & Sacker, Amanda & Wiggins, Richard D., 2005. "Time on my side? Life course trajectories of poverty and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1795-1808, October.
    9. Sonalde Desai & P. Chase-Lansdale & Robert Michael, 1989. "Mother or Market? Effects of Maternal Employment on the Intellectual Ability of 4-Year-Old Children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 26(4), pages 545-561, November.
    10. David M. Blau, 1999. "The Effect Of Income On Child Development," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 261-276, May.
    11. Asher Ben-Arieh, 2000. "Beyond Welfare: Measuring and Monitoring the State of Children – New Trends and Domains," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 235-257, December.
    12. Heather E. Joshi & Andrew McCulloch, 2002. "Child development and family resources: Evidence from the second generation of the 1958 British birth cohort," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(2), pages 283-304.
    13. Howard White & Jennifer Leavy & Andrew Masters, 2003. "Comparative Perspectives on Child Poverty: A review of poverty measures," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 379-396.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Khadija Loudghiri & Abdesselam Fazouane & Nouzha Zaoujal, 2021. "The Well-Being of Children in Morocco: What Barriers?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(6), pages 2285-2324, December.
    2. Jeanette A. Lawrence & Ida Kaplan & Amy H. Collard, 2019. "Perspectives of Refugee Children Resettling in Australia on Indicators of Their Wellbeing," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(3), pages 943-962, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christina Paxson & Norbert Schady, 2007. "Cognitive Development among Young Children in Ecuador: The Roles of Wealth, Health, and Parenting," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(1).
    2. Geranda Notten & Keetie Roelen, 2010. "Cross-national comparison of monetary and multidimensional child poverty in the European Union: puzzling with the few pieces that the EUSILC provides," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 13510, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Aughinbaugh, Alison & Gittleman, Maury, 2004. "Maternal employment and adolescent risky behavior," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 815-838, July.
    4. Rasheda Khanam & Son Nghiem, 2016. "Family Income and Child Cognitive and Noncognitive Development in Australia: Does Money Matter?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(3), pages 597-621, June.
    5. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Nicolás Salamanca & Anna Zhu, 2019. "Parenting style as an investment in human development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1315-1352, October.
    6. Peter Gottschalk & Michael Hansen, 2003. "Is the Proportion of College Workers in Noncollege Jobs Increasing?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 409-448, April.
    7. Roelen, Keetie & Gassmann, Franziska, 2008. "Measuring Child Poverty and Well-Being: a literature review," MPRA Paper 8981, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Colleen Heflin & Michah W. Rothbart & Mattie Mackenzie-Liu, 2022. "Below the Tip of the Iceberg: Examining Early Childhood Participation in SNAP and TANF from Birth to Age Six," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 729-755, April.
    9. Künn-Nelen, A.C. & de Grip, A. & Fouarge, D., 2013. "The relation between maternal work hours and cognitive outcomes of young school-aged children," Research Memorandum 019, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    10. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2008. "Maternal employment and adolescent development," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 958-983, October.
    11. Natasha Cabrera & Ronald Mincy & Hyunjoon Um, 2018. "The long-reach of fathers’ earnings on children’s skills in two-parent families: Parental investments, family processes, and children’s language skills," Working Papers wp18-06-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    12. Mark D. Agee & Scott E. Atkinson & Thomas D. Crocker, 2008. "Multiple‐Output Child Health Production Functions: The Impact of Time‐Varying and Time‐Invariant Inputs," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(2), pages 410-428, August.
    13. Mark D. Agee & Scott E. Atkinson & Thomas D. Crocker, 2009. "Multiple‐Output Child Health Production Functions: The Impact of Time‐Varying and Time‐Invariant Inputs," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(3), pages 909-927, January.
    14. Gassmann F. & Siegel M. & Vanore M. & Waidler J., 2013. "The impact of migration on children left behind in Moldova," MERIT Working Papers 2013-043, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. Marta E Barazzetta & Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D’ambrosio, 2017. "Childhood Circumstances and Young Adulthood Outcomes: The Effects of Mothers' Financial Problems," PSE Working Papers halshs-01622334, HAL.
    16. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Marta Barazzetta, 2021. "Childhood circumstances and young adulthood outcomes: The role of mothers' financial problems," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 342-357, February.
    17. Fernald, Lia C.H. & Hidrobo, Melissa, 2011. "Effect of Ecuador's cash transfer program (Bono de Desarrollo Humano) on child development in infants and toddlers: A randomized effectiveness trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1437-1446, May.
    18. Vegas, Emiliana & Santibáñez, Lucrecia, 2010. "The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 362, December.
    19. Zilanawala, Afshin & Pilkauskas, Natasha V., 2012. "Material hardship and child socioemotional behaviors: Differences by types of hardship, timing, and duration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 814-825.
    20. Herbst, Chris M., 2014. "Are Parental Welfare Work Requirements Good for Disadvantaged Children? Evidence from Age-of-Youngest-Child Exemptions," IZA Discussion Papers 8485, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:116:y:2014:i:2:p:567-591. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.