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Understanding children’s well-being: A national survey of young people’s well-being

27 January 2010. Understanding children’s well-being: A national survey of young people’s well-being. Bob Reitemeier Chief Executive The Children’s Society. Gwyther Rees The Children’s Society Jonathan Bradshaw University of York. Well-being: overview. The State of Britain’s Children.

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Understanding children’s well-being: A national survey of young people’s well-being

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  1. 27 January 2010 Understanding children’s well-being: A national survey of young people’s well-being

  2. Bob Reitemeier Chief Executive The Children’s Society

  3. Gwyther Rees The Children’s Society Jonathan Bradshaw University of York

  4. Well-being: overview

  5. The State of Britain’s Children • The evidence base is improving • Every Child Matters indicators • Opportunity for All • Equality and Human Rights Commission indicators for children and young people • Surveys: Tellus, BHPS, FACS, MCS, etc • International sources: HBSC, PISA, EU SILC • Arguably subjective well-being the least developed domain • Attempt to fill the gap

  6. British Household Panel Survey – 11-15 year olds

  7. Well-being and life satisfaction

  8. Why well-being matters Promotion (and distribution) of well-being can be seen as a fundamental goal of any society UN CRC “the primary consideration in all actions concerning children must be in their best interest and their views must be taken into account” Well-being has been shown to vary between nations and over time. Need to understand why. Subjective well-being can be an important indicator of underlying issues

  9. The research programme

  10. Aims • Understand the concept of well-being taking full account of young people’s perspectives • To establish self-report measures and use these to • Identify the reasons for variations in well-being • Monitor changes in well-being over time

  11. Survey development • 2005 survey – 11,000 young people • Development of framework • Identification and testing of questions • 2008 survey (administered by Ipsos MORI)

  12. Survey overview • Random sample of mainstream primary and secondary schools in England • Covers Years 6, 8 and 10 (10- to 15-year-olds) • One class randomly selected in each school • Total sample of just under 7,000 – over 2,000 in each of the three age groups

  13. Survey content • Secondary questionnaire - about 140 items • Primary questionnaire – about 100 items Four broad areas: • Measures of overall well-being • Single measures for 21 aspects of well-being (e.g. family, local area) • More detailed questions on particular aspects of subjective and psychological well-being • Demographics and socio-economic

  14. Overall subjective well-being

  15. Overall well-being Distinction between: • Happiness • Happiness with life as a whole • Life satisfaction (more of a cognitive assessment) • Cantril’s ladder • Huebner’s life satisfaction scale (7 items)

  16. Overall well-being Composite measure • Most young people happy and satisfied • But around 7% of young people relatively unhappy

  17. Variations in well-being What factors can explain variations in overall well-being?

  18. Individual characteristics Factors considered: • Age** • Gender** • Disability** • Religious affiliation* • Ethnicity* • Country of birth • Low explanatory power (3%-4%). Age most significant factor

  19. Age and gender variations

  20. Family factors Factors considered: • Poverty** • Family structure* • Number of siblings • Very low explanatory power (1% to 2.5%) • But, query re: poverty measures

  21. Sub-groups

  22. Cumulative effects Factors considered: disability, poverty, change in family structure

  23. Other explanations for variations Role of environmental factors. Three examples: • Change in family structure • Experiences of being bullied • Quality of family relationships

  24. Change in family structure • 10% of secondary school sample had experienced a change in the adults they lived with over the last year • Significant link with overall well-being (average score 6.8 compared to 7.7 for whole sample) • Reduced significance of variations in well-being across different family structures

  25. Being bullied

  26. Family relationships ‘My family gets along well together’

  27. Summary Explaining variations in well-being: • Individual and family factors explain relatively little • Poverty – needs further exploration • Recent life events may play a more significant role – stronger focus in future research • Other environmental factors such as quality of relationships show stronger associations

  28. Understanding Children’s Well-Being Components of well-being

  29. Competing theories Different explanations: • ‘Bottom-up’ approach (situational) • Demographics, socio-economic, life events • Domains >> overall well-being • ‘Top-down’ approach (personality) • Temperament, instrumental • Overall well-being >> domains • Potential value of both approaches

  30. 21 aspects • Survey included single questions (on a scale from 0 to 10 of happiness with 21 different aspects of young people’s lives) • Derived from: • Cummins - Australia • Casas – Spain • Young people’s ideas from 2005 survey

  31. Aspects (1)

  32. Aspects (2)

  33. Aspects (3)

  34. Age variations

  35. Gender variations

  36. Unhappiness with appearance

  37. Associations with overall well-being Top seven aspects: • Family • Amount of choice • Material possessions • Expectations of the future • Home environment • Leisure • Freedom

  38. Cummins Personal well-being index: • Standard of living • Future security • Relationships • Health • Safety • Achievements in life • Community connectedness Explains 47% variation in overall subjective well-being

  39. Huebner Brief multi-dimensional student life satisfaction scale: • Family • Living environment • Friends • Self • School Created measures to approximate to items 2 and 4 Explains 50% variation in overall subjective well-being

  40. Alternative model Based on 2005 survey: • Family • Amount of choice • Material possessions • Safety • Health • School work • Leisure • Friends • Local area Explains 54% variation in overall subjective well-being

  41. Change in family structure - associations

  42. Summary • Substantial variations in well-being re: different aspects • Importance of family, freedom/choice, expectations of the future, home and possessions • Concepts of well-being may vary according to age – both in comparison with adults and between different age groups

  43. Next steps

  44. Why well-being matters The concept of well-being provides a means of understanding what is important for young people’s lives. It is a means of ensuring that young people’s views are heard. 2008 survey establishes a base line for future exploration Well-being research can have important practical applications in terms of informing how to improve young people’s lives

  45. Next steps Four further publications over the next year on specific aspects of well-being Application of well-being indicators within The Children’s Society to measure impact Next wave of the survey in 2010 - first step in beginning to identify trends in young people’s well-being in England over time. To include Better measures of family economic factors Personality Wider range of life events

  46. Questions

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