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Child Well-Being in Advanced Economies in the Late 2000s

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Listed:
  • Bruno Martorano
  • Luisa Natali
  • Chris Neubourg
  • Jonathan Bradshaw

Abstract

This paper aimed at comparing the well-being of children across the most economically advanced countries of the world while discussing the methodological issues involved in comparing children’s well-being across countries. A Child Well-being Index was constructed to rank countries according to their performance in advancing child well-being. The Index used 30 indicators combined into 13 components, again summarised in 5 dimensions for 29 rich countries. Data from various sources were combined to capture aspects of child well-being: material well-being, health, education, behaviour and risks, housing and environment. The scores for the countries on all variables and combinations of variables were discussed in detail. The Child Well-being Index revealed that the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries (excluding Denmark) did relatively better than the other countries while Romania and the United States performed well below the average. Overall, serious differences existed in child well-being across countries suggesting that in many, improvement could be made in the quality of children’s lives. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Martorano & Luisa Natali & Chris Neubourg & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2014. "Child Well-Being in Advanced Economies in the Late 2000s," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 247-283, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:118:y:2014:i:1:p:247-283
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0402-z
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    1. Liliana Fernandes & Américo Mendes & Aurora Teixeira, 2013. "A Weighted Multidimensional Index of Child Well-Being Which Incorporates Children’s Individual Perceptions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 803-829, December.
    2. Hyoung-Sun Jeong & Jeremy Hurst, 2001. "An Assessment of the Performance of the Japanese Health Care System," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 56, OECD Publishing.
    3. Koen Decancq & María Ana Lugo, 2013. "Weights in Multidimensional Indices of Wellbeing: An Overview," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 7-34, January.
    4. Almas Heshmati & Arno Tausch & Chemen S. J. Bajalan, 2008. "Measurement and Analysis of Child Well-Being in Middle and High Income Countries," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 5(2), pages 187-249, December.
    5. Elders, M.J. & Perry, C.L. & Eriksen, M.P. & Giovino, G.A., 1994. "The report of the surgeon general: Preventing tobacco use among young people," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(4), pages 543-547.
    6. Bruno Martorano & Luisa Natali & Chris De Neubourg & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2013. "Children’s Subjective Well-being in Rich Countries," Papers inwopa686, Innocenti Working Papers.
    7. Jonathan Bradshaw & Petra Hoelscher & Dominic Richardson & *UNICEF, 2007. "Comparing Child Well-Being in OECD Countries: Concepts and methods," Papers inwopa07/38, Innocenti Working Papers.
    8. Liliana Fernandes & Américo Mendes & Aurora A.C. Teixeira, 2010. "A review essay on child well-being measurement: uncovering the paths for future research," FEP Working Papers 396, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    9. David Carey & Ekkehard Ernst, 2006. "Improving Education Achievement and Attainment in Luxembourg," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 508, OECD Publishing.
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    Cited by:

    1. Oh, Jihyun, 2023. "Prevalence and factors associated with multidimensional child deprivation: Findings from the Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    2. Kolbeinn Hólmar Stefánsson & Lovísa Arnardóttir & Anton Örn Karlsson, 2018. "Children‘s Deprivation and Economic Vulnerability in Iceland 2009 and 2014," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(3), pages 783-803, June.
    3. Mathew Y. H. Wong & Wing Hong Chui, 2017. "Economic Development and Subjective Well-being: A Comparative Study of Adolescents in Hong Kong and Macau," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 10(1), pages 247-265, March.
    4. Albino Prada & Patricio Sanchez-Fernandez, 2021. "World Child Well-Being Index: A Multidimensional Perspective," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(6), pages 2119-2144, December.
    5. Martorano, Bruno & Metzger, Laura & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2020. "Chinese development assistance and household welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Ziyu Wang & Anne Kouvonen & Mirja Satka & Ilse Julkunen, 2019. "Parental Social Support and Adolescent Well-Being: a Cross-Sectional Study in China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(1), pages 299-317, February.
    7. Bruno Martorano & Luisa Natali & Chris De Neubourg & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2013. "Child Well-being in Economically Rich Countries: Changes in the first decade of the 21st century," Papers inwopa685, Innocenti Working Papers.
    8. 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).
    9. Bruno Martorano & Luisa Natali & Chris De Neubourg & Jonathan Bradshaw, 2013. "Children’s Subjective Well-being in Rich Countries," Papers inwopa686, Innocenti Working Papers.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child well-being; Child poverty; Health; Education; Risk behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A1 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics

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