27. Child well-being: Policies, Practices, and Challenges in a Changing World

Anne Solaz (French Institute for Demographic Studies, Ined) 

Audrey Bousselin (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research)  

Child well-being is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon that encompasses several interdependent components. It is influenced not only by the child's physical and mental health but also by economic resources, the quality of family and social relationships, and the broader living environment. This includes both immediate surroundings and structural factors such as public policies on childcare, education, health services, family support, and assistance for low-income households (Ben-Arieh, 2007; Pollard & Lee, 2003). Traditionally, child well-being has been measured using objective indicators like access to education and vaccination rates or child poverty levels. However, these indicators often fail to fully capture children's lived experiences (Lippman, 2007; Hanafin et al., 2009). More recently, subjective measures, including children’s perceptions of their quality of life and happiness, have gained attention (Amerijckx & Humblet, 2014; Dinisman & Ben-Arieh, 2016). Two main approaches are used: the hedonic approach, which emphasizes immediate emotional experiences, and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on personal development and fulfillment (Conti & Heckman, 2014). The OECD (2021) recommends combining both objective and subjective measures, though no consensus exists on the best methodology. Perspectives on child well-being can also vary depending on the observer—parents, educators, and teachers may have differing views (McElhaney, 2008, Paikhoff et al., 1993). When these views diverge, it is difficult to know who is right, especially as children themselves are often excluded from discussions about their own well-being. This is because children are generally perceived as lacking the cognitive capacity to assess their well-being and respond to questions formulated and posed by adults. Yet children, even the youngest, are able of identifying issues and priorities that may not be obvious to adults. After all, children are not little adults: they have their own way of thinking, their own motivations and their own limitations (Brocas and Carillo, 2018). Child well-being is critical to their cognitive and socio-emotional development, directly influencing their ability to learn, interact socially and thrive emotionally (Amholt et al., 2020; Currie et al., 2010; Pollard and Lee, 2003). Consequently, promoting child well-being has become a priority for social policies aimed at fostering long-term social cohesion, equity, and sustainable development. This stream will explore child well-being through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on fields such as developmental psychology, epidemiology, sociology, economics, political science, education, and law.  

Key areas of focus include: 

- Educational policy and child well-being: access to education, quality of teaching, inclusion of vulnerable children.

- Social protection and prevention of inequalities: family allowances, support for single-parent families, policies to reduce child poverty. 

- Child health and development: access to health care, nutrition, mental health. - Subjective approaches to child well-being: children's own perceptions of well-being, participation and children's rights.

- Crises and child well-being: migration, armed conflict, climate and economic crises.

- Methods for measuring child well-being: qualitative and quantitative indicators, innovative evaluation methods We encourage contributions from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to promote dialogue on theoretical and methodological approaches to child well-being. 

Comparative studies, single-country analyses, empirical research, and theoretical contributions are all welcome, as are submissions from students.