The Child Indicators
movement: past, present
and future
Asher Ben-Arieh (Ph.D.)
Chair, Social Policy Research Group
Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and
Social Welfare
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
E-mail: benarieh@cc.huji.ac.il
The presentation framework
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When did it all start – the historical origin
The pioneering efforts
The social indicators phenomena
Child social indicators
The rapid development era (1980 – 2005)
The shifts
The present
The future
When did it all start – the
historical origin
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As early as the late 40th…
Sporadic efforts to publish “state of the
child reports”.
A few examples..
What were they about and why were
they published?
The pioneering efforts
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Most of them were a one time episode
They focused on the existence of risk
factors in children life
Most were published by governmental
agencies and a few by NGO’s
They were heavily profession focused
Most were non-academic publications
The social indicators
phenomena
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One of the first times the term was used was in
Bauer's influential book, that made the concept
scientifically and politically relevant.
Bauer defined “Social Indicators”: “… social
indicators – statistics, statistical series, and all
other forms of evidence – that enable us to
assess where we stand and are going with
respect to our values and goals…” .
As of the 1960s, researchers argue that wellmeasured and consistently collected social
indicators can provide a way to monitor the
condition of groups in society, including children
and families, today and over time.
The social indicators
phenomena
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Social indicators are used by policy makers to
contribute to the improvement of the well being
of the people they serve.
Social indicators measure changes and trends
over time. The overall direction of change can
point out what decisions need to be taken, as a
policy process.
Social indicators give policy makers a better
understanding of the conditions and the state of
the people.
Social indicators can direct and emphasize
where exactly steps should be taken?
Child social indicators
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Recent years have brought new and growing
attention to social indicators of children’s well
being.
This growing interest has been partly due to
a movement toward accountability-based
public policy and the need for more accurate
measures of the conditions children face and
the outcomes various programs achieve.
The rapid changes in family life have also
prompted an increased demand for a better
picture of children's well being
Child social indicators
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Indicators of children’s well-being, in particular,
are used by child advocacy groups, policy
makers, researchers, the media, and service
providers to serve a number of purposes:
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to describe the condition of children;
to monitor or track child outcomes;
to set goals.
And while there are notable gaps and
inadequacies in existing child and family wellbeing indicators, there also literally are dozens
of data series and indicators from which to form
opinions and draw conclusions.
The rapid development era
(1980 – 2005)
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Efforts to measure and monitor
children’s well-being have dramatically
grown in the last 25 years and is evident,
in joint projects by government, nongovernment, and academic institutes
and especially in the production of
numerous “State of the Child” reports.
The rapid development era
(1980 – 2005)
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Much of this “new” and enhanced activity can be
accounted for by:
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UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children” annual report
published since 1979.
The United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child,
through its global ratification and especially through its
reporting and monitoring mechanism.
A number of national and multi-national projects and
studies such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids
Count initiative in the United States (early 90’s). The multinational project on measuring and monitoring children well
being (1996). The European center childhood project and
more.
The shifts
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In a number of studies and papers I have
argued (as did others) that the field of children’s
social indicators has been evolving and going
through four major shifts in the last 25 years.
• From survival to beyond
• From negative to positive
• From well becoming to well-being, and consequently
• From traditional to “new” domains.
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Today it seems a consensus was reached that
indeed the field is changing in these directions.
The present
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The field of child social indicators is constantly
changing!
Research support earlier studies that argued that the
field is going through the 4 major shifts mentioned
above. These shifts are occurring everywhere, though
at different paces in different places.
Further, I would argue that these shifts are correlated
with changes in the “philosophy” or approach to child
social indicators:
• the incorporation of subjective perception as well as the
child perspective; and
• the usage of the child as the unit of observation.
The future
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I would predict that the field will continue to move in
the previously mentioned directions and will most
likely do so at a considerably faster pace.
I further anticipate that the continuation of the
current trends will eventually lead to the creation of a
“new” role for children in the effort to measure and
monitor their own well being – a role of active
participants rather then of subjects for research.
I would also argue that we are in a midst of a shift
toward a more closely policy oriented indicators
The future
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I started my presentation with the claim that the field of
measuring and monitoring children well being is changing.
Not only that it is changing but I have built on the direction
it is heading to make a case for a more active role of
children in the study of their well being.
I also made clear that there is a need to thoroughly study the
policy consequences.
I think we need to develop “new” research methodologies
on the basis of partnership with children and policy makers.
As well as a move from isolated studies to studies which are
embedded within the policy arena and context.
And a few words on ISCI
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In my eyes ISCI is both a consequence
of the “era of rapid change” mentioned
before and one of its facilitators!
The first claim is supported by the
incredible success of this inaugural
conference, the number of participants it
drew and the creation of CIR.
The second claim needs some
elaboration.
ISCI’s History
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To explain ISCI facilitating role - let me walk
you through ISCI history and creation.
In 1996 some 35 experts from 17 countries
meet in Jerusalem for the first international
workshop titled “measuring and monitoring
children’s well being – beyond survival”. It is
there were the foundation for ISCI was laid
and were the core group of ISCI founders
have met.
ISCI’s History
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The Jerusalem workshop has then
developed into the mutli-national project
“Measuring and Monitoring children’s well
being with some 200 participants from more
then 30 countries participating in the project
workshops and meeting. This project work
is summarized in a number of books and
articles and in its web-site:
http://multinational-indicators.chapinhall.org/
ISCI’s History
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It was around the year 2000 when we started to
discuss the formation of an international society of
child indicators researchers.
But it took us until the Childhood 2005 conference
on June 2005 to test its feasibility and start the
actual process.
In late 2005 with the support of the AECF we
convened the founding standing committee
meeting of ISCI and set the target of having our
inaugural conference in 2007. We set the criteria
for our success at 80 participants…
ISCI facilitating role
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Thus, even though ISCI is a “new born”,
its origins and work started already in
the mid 1990.
The influence of the former work and
publications leads me to conclude that
ISCI and its predecessors have played a
major role in facilitating the rapid growth
era.
Thank you!