The Well-Being of Children in the UK 9781447325642

Table of contents :
THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN IN THE UK
Contents
List of figures and tables
List of abbreviations
Notes on contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
Efforts to monitor child well-being
What does child well-being mean?
Comparative indices of child well-being
Spending on children
Structure of the book
Conclusion
2. Demography of childhood
Introduction
Child population
Age composition of the child population
Fertility
Average family size
Ethnicity
Marriage, cohabitation and lone parenthood
Divorce and remarriage
Lone parents
Stepparents
Only children
Conclusion
3. Child poverty and deprivation
Introduction
Policy context
Child poverty
Country, regional and area variations in child poverty
Characteristics of children in poverty
Child poverty dynamics
Intergenerational transmission of poverty
The views of children
Child poverty and the financial crisis
International comparisons of child poverty
Comparisons of material well-being and other domains of well-being at an international level
Conclusion
4. Physical health
Introduction
Infant and child mortality
Birth weight
Infant feeding
Immunisations
Self-assessed health
Comparative studies of self-assessed child health
Common chronic conditions with increasing prevalence
Injuries and accidents
Dental health
Health behaviours in children
International comparisons of overall child health
Conclusion
5. Subjective well-being and mental health
Introduction: Subjective well-being
Introduction: Mental health
Suicide
Conclusion
6. Education
Introduction
Overview of key changes in education policy, 2010-15
Education attainment of children at the end of Key Stage 2
Attainment at 15+
Competences at the age of 15
Children’s well-being at schools
Disaffection in education
Latest findings on educational inequality and social mobility
Conclusion
7. Housing and the environment for children
Introduction
Poor housing
Homelessness
Poor environments
Conclusion
8. Children’s time and space
Introduction
Children’s spaces
Virtual space
Children’s play
Children’s time use
Children’s employment
Children as carers
Conclusion
9. Children and young people in care and leaving care
Introduction
Numbers, trends and characteristics of children in care
Experiences of care
The well-being of children in care
Routes out of care
Conclusion
10. Child maltreatment
Introduction
Definitions
Data sources
Administrative data
Self-report data1
Conclusion
11. Childcare and early years
Introduction
Background
Child outcomes
Early intervention
Conclusion
12. Children, crime and correction
Introduction
Definitions and indicators
Overall levels of crime
Types of crime committed by children
First time entrants to the youth justice system
Outcomes and punishments
Key issues in relation to the use of custody
Trends in reoffending
Conclusion
13. Conclusion
What is the comparative evidence?
What are the national trends?
Recent context
Future context
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

“Rigorous and dispassionate analysis of the evidence makes sense of where we are and points to what needs to be done.” Nick Axford, Dartington Social Research Unit, UK “A vast amount of information in one accessible and compelling volume...Its relevance is wide-ranging.” Children & Society The well-being of children is a vital and highly topical issue. This important new book is the fourth in a series and updates the findings from a wide range of data to evaluate the outcomes of the Labour government’s policies for children. Edited by a highly regarded expert in the field, it uses a framework to compare policy areas, making it an excellent source book for researchers, policy makers and students. Jonathan Bradshaw CBE, FBA is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of York. In addition to research into family policy, in recent years his research has focused on international comparisons of child poverty, child benefit packages and child well-being. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a board member of the Child Poverty Action Group. 

ISBN 978-1-4473-2563-5

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The well-being of children in the UK - 4th Edn_limp_3.2.indd 1

9 781447 325635

Edited by Bradshaw

CHILDHOOD STUDIES / SOCIAL STUDIES

The well-being of children in the UK 

“With chapters written by exceptional authors, rich data and intra- national and international comparison this is a most valuable publication.” Asher Ben-Arieh, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN IN THE UK FOURTH EDITION

EDITED BY JONATHAN BRADSHAW

3/9/2016 12:45:36 PM

THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN IN THE UK Fourth Edition Edited by Jonathan Bradshaw

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Policy Press North America office: University of Bristol Policy Press 1-9 Old Park Hill c/o The University of Chicago Press Bristol 1427 East 60th Street BS2 8BB Chicago, IL 60637, USA UK t: +1 773 702 7700 +44 (0)117 954 5940 f: +1 773 702 9756 [email protected] [email protected] www.policypress.co.uk www.press.uchicago.edu © Policy Press 2016 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 978 1 44732 562 8 hardcover ISBN 978 1 44732 563 5 paperback ISBN 978 1 44732 567 3 ePub ISBN 978 1 44732 566 6 Mobi The right of Jonathan Bradshaw to be identified as editor of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Policy Press. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the editor and contributors and not of the University of Bristol or Policy Press. The University of Bristol and Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication. We gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to reproduce the copyright material in this book. All reasonable efforts have been made to identify the holders of copyright material and to obtain permission for use. In the event of any error or omission, please contact the publisher so that a correction can be incorporated in future reprints or editions of the book. Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality. Cover design by Policy Press Front cover image: Shutterstock Printed and bound in Great Britain by CMP, Poole Policy Press uses environmentally responsible print partners

Contents List of figures and tables v List of abbreviations xv Notes on contributors xvii Acknowledgements xxi one Introduction Jonathan Bradshaw

1

two

Demography of childhood Jonathan Bradshaw

13

three

Child poverty and deprivation Jonathan Bradshaw and Gill Main

31

four

Physical health Jonathan Bradshaw, Veronica Dale and Karen Bloor

71

five

Subjective well-being and mental health Gwyther Rees and Gill Main

123

six Education Antonia Keung

149

seven

Housing and the environment for children Deborah Quilgars

179

eight

Children’s time and space Antonia Keung

209

nine

Children and young people in care and leaving care Gwyther Rees and Mike Stein

231

ten

Child maltreatment Gwyther Rees

263

eleven

Childcare and early years Christine Skinner

287

twelve

Children, crime and correction Rachel Morris and Lisa O’Malley

309

thirteen Conclusion Jonathan Bradshaw

347

Bibliography 359 Index 401

iii

List of figures and tables

Figures 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6

3.7

Spending on family cash benefits, services and tax breaks as a percentage of GDP by overall child well-being, 2011 7 Spending on education and family benefits, services and tax breaks as a proportion of GDP, 2011 8 Social spending as a proportion of GDP, 1991-92 to 2014-15 9 Social protection expenditure, real terms (£ billion) 10 Projected numbers of children in different age groups, UK (000s) 16 Total period fertility rate, UK 17 Age-specific fertility rates – births per 1,000 women in the age group, England and Wales 18 Live birth rates outside marriage, England and Wales 20 Registration of live births outside marriage, England and Wales 21 Percentage of children living in lone-parent families in the EU, 2008 25 The relationship between overall well-being and the proportion of children living in lone and stepparent families, EU 27 Percentage of children falling below 60% of the contemporary median, 1961-98/99 37 Percentage of children falling below 60% of the contemporary median and 2010/11 median, 1994/95-2013/14 38 Children’s perceptions of the impact of the economic crisis on their families 55 Mean number of deprivation items lacking by the impact of the economic crisis 56 Children reporting a worsening of their family economic situation by the impact of the financial crisis 57 Percentage point change in child poverty rate between the mid‑1990s (LIS wave IV) and 2010 LIS wave VIII (% of children living in households with equivalent income less than 60% median) 58 Percentage of the population with household incomes less than 60% median (at-risk-of-poverty rate), 2013, EU countries 59

v

The well-being of children in the UK

3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13

4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21

EU 2020 at risk of child poverty rates (AROPE), 2013 62 Child poverty gap, 2013 63 At risk of poverty and severe material deprivation, 2013 (% of children under 18) 64 Child (under 18) poverty rates, 2008-13 (threshold anchored at 2008) 66 Relative child income poverty rate by overall child well-being excluding material well-being 67 Stillbirths and mortality rates, England/Wales 74 Child mortality per 100,000 of the same age, England/Wales 75 Infant mortality rates (deaths before the age of 12 months per 1,000 births), EU and selected rich countries, 2013 77 All under-19 deaths per 100,000 children, three-year average, European countries 78 Association between infant mortality rate and the percentage of households lacking three or more deprivation items 79 Infant mortality by socioeconomic classification 81 Ratio of infant mortality in socioeconomic groups 7/8 to all groups 82 Low birth weight rates in England and Wales 83 Low birth weight births (