This report and its related products ultimately aim to help improve health and health equity, during COVID-19 and beyond by focusing on the integration of social care into the delivery of health care

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/2752359/jama_bibbinsdomingo_2019_vp_190135.pdf

Integrating Social Care Into the Delivery of Health Care

Research on indicators related to the state of child well-being is a growing field that has experienced several changes over time. The growing supply of data on children, as well as the need to facilitate conclusions and to track trends, has led researchers to develop a number of child well-being indexes. This paper critically reviews the most recent and relevant child well-being indexes, i.e., the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, the Child Well-being Index for the European Union, the Microdata Child Well-being Index, and the Deprivation Index. The study focuses primarily on the contributions and innovations the indexes have brought to the field, making a critical assessment of the methods used in the construction of the indexes and identifying their main limitations.

A Review Essay on the Measurement of Child Well-Being

The research on indicators on the state of child well-being is a growing field and one that has experienced several changes through time. Due to the growing supply of data on children, and in order to facilitate conclusions and tracking trends, researchers have been led to develop child well-being summary indexes. Several proposals have already been presented. In the present work, we critically review the most prominent summary child well-being indexes recently constructed, the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, the Child Well-being Index for the European Union, the Microdata Child Well-Being Index, and the Deprivation Index. The examination is carried out according to the contributions and innovations the indexes have brought to the field. A critical assessment of the methods used in the construction of the indexes is made and their main limitations identified. Accordingly, some future lines of research to improve child well-being measurement through summary indexes are put forward.

A review essay on child well-being measurement: uncovering the paths for future research

La recherche presentee s’interesse au devenir d’enfants accueillis avec leur mere en centre d’hebergement mere-enfant, sept a huit ans apres leur sortie. Ce travail s’inscrit dans la perspective ecologique du developpement humain et s’appuie sur les acquis theoriques et methodologiques des recherches concernant le devenir des beneficiaires d’interventions socio-educatives, et des recherches sur le bien-etre de l’enfant. La demarche visait a observer les trajectoires apres la sortie, a comprendre les processus de construction de ces parcours, et a apprehender la qualite de vie des enfants au moment de l’enquete. La demarche empirique comprend trois etapes (analyse sequentielle de deux cents trajectoires, entretiens avec quarante-neuf meres et questionnaires de qualite de vie et entretiens avec trente-trois enfants). Les resultats mettent en evidence l’interaction entre le parcours conjugal de la mere, l’evolution de la situation residentielle et les mesures de protection de l’enfance. Ils soulignent egalement les effets de la centration du dispositif sur le lien mere-enfant. Enfin, la qualite de vie des enfants semble davantage liee a leur situation au moment de l’enquete qu’a leur parcours anterieur. L’analyse des entretiens permet de proposer des pistes pour comprendre la contribution des conditions materielles de vie et des dimensions relationnelles a la qualite de vie des enfants.

https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00923314/document

Le devenir des enfants accueillis en centre maternel : approche écologique du parcours et de la qualité de vie des enfants sept ans après la sortie d'un hébergement mère-enfant

It has been a decade since a landmark piece of work on child well-being measurement based on a summary index was developed in the United States, the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being. Several research studies, both in the U.S. and Europe, followed on from this work. Despite these studies’ valuable contribution, scope exists for further improvements at the methodological level. In the present paper we draw the methodological basis for a new, micro-based summary child well-being index in which children’s views on their own well-being assume a central role and distinct weights (based on the children’s perceptions) to each component that is included in the index are used. Based on 914 pairs of responses of Portuguese children and their carers, the newly proposed index was tested vis-a-vis other methodologies. The econometric estimations show that the significance of all potential well-being determinants (e.g., age, school cycle, mother’s and father’s level of education) remains the same across the distinct methods of calculation of child well-being indexes. However, the consideration of subjective components (degrees of importance and weights) allowed to evidence that the most relevant determinants of child well-being are the set of variables related to the child’s parents, namely education and professional status. In particular, when compared to their counterparts, children whose fathers have higher education degrees reveal an increased overall well-being by around 25 %, whereas children whose fathers are unemployed present a decreased well-being by around 11 %.

/pdf/a-weighted-multidimensional-index-of-child-well-being-which-47j594gsn5.pdf

A Weighted Multidimensional Index of Child Well-Being Which Incorporates Children’s Individual Perceptions

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to evaluate poverty among children using a multidimensional concept of child poverty.Design/methodology/approach – In light of this conceptualization, the paper applies methodological framework that uses fuzzy set theory to evaluate deprivation intensity among children. It also investigates the socio‐demographic and economic characteristics that most affect deprivation risk by estimating a discrete choice model.Findings – Results show that children included in large families or with uncommon compositions are particularly at risk. Unemployment of parents also plays an important role in determining deprivation. Children's deprivation is particularly affected by issues related to education, health, housing and social integration.Originality/value – This paper proposes a concept that is child‐cantered. It also constructs measures of child poverty/deprivation based on specific child indicators of well‐being. Finally uses the paper econometric techniques to evaluate socio‐demo...

Child poverty: a multidimensional measurement

Purpose – Child poverty has become an important issue in social and political agendas. In Portugal, almost 25 per cent of children are at risk of poverty and the most vulnerable age group. This paper seeks to investigate child poverty in Portugal, using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions microdata for 2004‐2008. It explores the sociodemographic and economic attributes associated with child poverty in order to design the profile of income‐poor children. Furthermore, it analyses social policies efficiency in reducing child poverty.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses descriptive methods as well as econometric tools to select the characteristics of income‐poor children and to evaluate social policy efficiency. The estimation of a discrete choice model allows inference purposes.Findings – Results obtained show that children included in large households and in lone‐parent households, are particularly at risk. Social policies undertaken had roughly impact on child poverty.Original...

The profile of income‐poor children

While the literature commonly analyses child poverty and social exclusion data covering a single year, less is known about children who fall in and out of poverty over a longer period. The present research intends to address this gap by investigating the dynamics of child poverty and social exclusion in Portugal. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate child poverty and social exclusion trajectories; and second to examine their association with specific socio-demographic and economic factors.,Applying the definition of “at risk of poverty or social exclusion” given by Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT), the analysis extends beyond the concept of income poverty. The authors apply Portuguese data sourced from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for the period 2008–2011 to suggest a longitudinal poverty and social exclusion typology to analyse child poverty and social exclusion dynamics.,The findings report that children constitute the age group experiencing the worst poverty and social exclusion trajectories. Furthermore, the presence of children in the household seems to be an increasing factor of poverty and social exclusion. This information is relevant to improving the design of children and family-focussed social policies as well as contributing to the setting of targets in order to achieve EU 2020 goals including the alleviation of poverty in general and of child poverty in particular.,The main contribution to child poverty studies derives from our analysis of the dynamics driving child poverty and social exclusion. The authors apply a methodological framework that is applicable to other EU member states and can thus enable an international comparison of poverty and social exclusion trajectories.

Carla Machado

Papers

Child poverty: a multidimensional measurement

The profile of income‐poor children

Children and the dynamics of poverty and social exclusion: empirical evidence for Portugal