September 2008

--------------------------------

happy and they know it?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

developing a well-being framework based onchildren and young people consultation

September Briefing 15/9/08 13:07 Page 1

The Children’s Society, in collaboration with University of York, is undertaking a programme of research on the well-being of children and young people in England. This work is based on an extensive consultation with young people.

Well-being: a growing concern In recent years there has been a growing international interest in the concept ofwell-being. This is partly a result of evidence that increasing standards of living indeveloped countries may not be linked to improved happiness and life satisfaction.

A recent UNICEF report (1) generated considerable concern suggesting that children in the UK fare worse than many other developed countries in a number of areas including incomepoverty,‘risky’ behaviours, peer relationships and assessments of their own well-being.

There is, however, no agreed way of defining and measuring well-being. Ideas about children’s well-being have often been taken from concepts that apply to adults, without reference to children themselves. There has also been a tendency to focus on children’s future well-being as adults rather than on their experience of childhood; and to define well-being as the absence of negative indicators (e.g. substance use) rather than the presence of positive ones.

The Children’s Society’s well-being research The Children’s Society, therefore, decided to develop a well-being framework based on children’s views about what makes a good childhood. This work has also informedThe Good Childhood ® Inquiry, (2) the UK’s first independent inquiry into childhood.

Some of the principles we used to guide this work are: to consider present as well as future well-being; to use positive indicators where possible; and to ensure that the framework is inclusive of the diversity of children’s lives. Over 14,000 children and young people have contributed their views through:

• a representative survey of over 8,000 14- to- 16- year-olds in 2005 • a consultation exercise in 2007-8 involving over 5,000 children in a broader age range, using postcards, a website and focus groups

Things that make for a good life for young people The survey we undertook in 2005 asked young people to answer two questions:

• What do you think are the most important things that make for a good life for young people? • What things do you think stop young people having a good life?

Figure 1 shows the most common words used by young people in their answers to these questions.

Figure 1: The 40 most common key words in young people’s responses

Friends 4164 Education 886 Pressure 465 Hang 320

Family 3091 Money 825 Happiness 458 Abuse 312

Bullying 2311 Caring 767 Safety 423 Teachers 298

Do 2106 Loving 723 Treatment 413 Want 292

Parents 1710 Support 516 Social 406 Alcohol 290

School 1582 Freedom 501 Feelings 360 Smoking 288

Drugs 1182 Time 496 Drink 357 Nice 268

Go 1090 Police 494 Area 348 Talk 264

Home 945 Places 494 Adults 342 Enjoyment 262

Fun 897 Activities 466 Problem 329 Mates 254

The analysis of the young people’s comments identified ten key topic areas plus several ‘cross-cutting’ themes – the quality of young people’s relationships, safety and freedom.Some of the young people’s comments are presented below. They have not been edited.

Cross-cutting themes

The quality of young people’s relationships Many of young people’s comments referred to qualities that they felt were important in their relationships with others, including love, support, fair treatment and respect:

“Love & care by the people they want to love & care for them.”

“Some one to talk to and some one to lisene.”

“Bullies, prejudice and other offensive [offences] committed to prevent a young person having a good life.”

“People respect other people in each community, people respect other religions, equality.”

Safety and freedom Young people emphasised the importance of safety at home, at school and in the community. They were particularly concerned about bullying, crime, and feeling safe in their local area. On the other hand, freedom was seen as an important aspect of a good childhood,

“To have freedom in what they think, say and do.”

although there was also a recognition of the need for limits to this:

“To be safe, allowed to go out as long as they be careful.”

Key topics

1. Family The family was clearly of paramount importance to young people, being the most common topic mentioned. Many of the comments focused on the three issues above – relationships, safety and freedom. Another set of issues identified by young people was the importance of stability and security:

“Structured family life.”

2. FriendsFriends was the second most important topic mentioned. Friends were seen as a key source of support. They were also commonly mentioned in conjunction with enjoying leisure time, socialising and having fun (see ‘Leisure’ below). On the other hand, many young people highlighted the impact of bullying and peer pressure on their lives:

“If there friends are bad, they might be forced or do something they don’t want to do, just to impress their friends.”

3. Leisure Leisure was seen as the third most important ‘quality of life’ ingredient. Comments about having something to do or nothing to do were made by almost 1,000 of the young people. Many young people emphasised the importance of having fun, socialising and of specific activities such as sports. The balance of leisure and work was also raised by young people:

“Doing well in school and having a good social life, getting the balance right.”

4. School, education and learning Along with leisure and fun, the value of education was also recognised. A good education was often cited as one of the key ingredients of a good childhood. Young people recognised the importance of working hard for their future well-being:

“To get good grades, to get a good job and get paid!”

However, there was also substantial comment about school pressure:

“Exams – stress – too many exams.”

Positive comments about teachers emphasised support, help and understanding; negative comments tended to refer to pressure at school. The importance of wider learning about life and the need for positive role models were also mentioned.

5. Behaviour Young people recognised that their own behaviour made a major contribution to their experience of childhood. Substance use was a topic of considerable comment. Drugs and alcohol were mostly mentioned as stopping young people having a good life. The second broad category of comment here related to ‘getting into trouble’ including crime:

“Getting into trouble with police/family. Becoming addicted to substances.”

6. The local environment Young people were concerned about the quality of their local environment, including a shortage of local facilities and places to go. A second key issue was the general quality of the local environment:

“Living in poor, depressing, bleak places.”

7. Community Young people also focused on their relationships with people in their local community. One key issue was the attitudes of specific adults towards young people:

“Adults dont want you to play there – they are being unsocialable to us.”

This was linked to a perception of negative societal attitudes towards young people:

“Bullying and scared of crime which is exagerated by media who overestimate the figures and levels of crime. Also young people in general are blamed for Britains “rising crime” (according to media) this makes people scared and frightened of young people.”

Young people also identified criminals, gangs and groups of other young people as affecting their feelings of safety within their neighbourhood.

8. Money Young people’s comments on money generally focused on having ‘enough money’ rather than on being rich, including the cost of activities:

“Things to do. whatching a film costs around 8 quid for 1 person and that is the only money people get.”

Illustration “Happy days”, by Jolene, Louise, Sadia and Shelby. Four young people’s visual presentation of things that make for a good life for young people.

9. Attitudes As with ‘Behaviour’, many young people recognised the relevance of their own attitudes and approach to life.

“To live life as if its your last day and to get along with others.”

10. Health Most of the health-related comments focused on mental and emotional health. Stress, worry and anxiety were regularly mentioned as things that prevented young people having a good life:

“Less stress, less pressure, more well respected, social life.”

Exercise and diet were also mentioned and there was a recognition of the impact that ill-health and disability can have on quality of life.

Further consultation with children During 2007 and 2008, further consultation with a broader age range of children confirmed many of the above ideas. The most common issues related to relationships with family and friends, material needs, bullying, school and attitudes. Words such as ‘love’, ‘care’, ‘support’ and ‘equality’ again featured prominently.

The consultation also highlighted additional topics, which may be more relevant toyounger children, including:

Relationships with siblings and extended family, and also the importance of pets “All people need: a mum, a dad, a granny, a grandad, an uncle, an aunties, a house, friends, education, a brother or sister, a cousin or two, and support.” (7-year-old boy)

“Having my lovely pets (4 dogs), one rabbit, one genpig, 8 fish and my family.”(11-year-old girl)

Spending time and doing things with family“I like it when we all go out together.” (7-year-old girl)

“I get to go with my dad on my bike and ride around the park and plus i get to play on my xbox with my mum and i keep beating her.” (9-year-old boy)

Aspects of play including toys and spending time outdoors “They need toys to play with” (10-year-old boy)

“lots of parks to play in.” (5-year-old girl)

“Some parentas dont let kids go outsdie and play whith their friends.” (8-year-old boy)

A framework of well-being based on young people’s views We then set out to develop a framework of well-being which reflected as closely as possible the views described above. We did this by reviewing a range of well-being research. After considering various options, we developed the model which we felt fitted young people’s views best. It consists of three domains - Self, Relationships and Environments. (3) Within each of these domains there are a number of topics and cross-cutting themes as shown in Figure 2.

Four of these themes – love, support, respect and fairness – are contained within the Relationships domain. A further two – safety and freedom – are relevant both to the Relationships and Environments domains.

Within this framework the three domains are inter-connected. For example, a young person’s experience of school will incorporate aspects of all three domains – Self (e.g. learning and development); Relationships (with friends, other pupils, and teachers); and Environments (the physical fabric and facilities of the school).

Figure 2: Draft well-being framework

Relationships Environment

Money and material needs

WithFamilyFriendsTeachersLocal people

Quality of environments HomeSchoolLocal area National (e.g. government, media)

Global

Freedom &

SafetyKey qualities Love/careSupportFairnessRespect

Learning,growthaspirations

HealthPhysicalMentalEmotional

Values,beliefs and attitudes

LifestyleLeisure / funChoicesUse of time

Self

Next steps

A national well-being survey In 2007 The Children’s Society, in partnership with the University of York, developed a questionnaire for young people based on the above framework and commissioned Ipsos MORIto conduct a schools-based survey. The development of the questionnaire included consultation and piloting with over 600 young people in secondary and primary schools.

The first phase of the survey – a representative sample of over 7,000 children and young people in year 6 in primary school and years 8 and 10 in secondary school – was completed in July 2008.

The research findings will be published in Spring 2009. This will be an important step in identifying patterns of well-being amongst different groups of children and developing an index of child well-being. The survey will be repeated regularly to measure trends in well-being over time.

Ongoing consultation

The work will be developed further in two ways:

• We are consulting a wide range of young people to test whether the framework is inclusive of the diverse contexts in which young people live. This will inform the next phase of the survey in 2009-2010.

• We plan to establish an advisory group of researchers, policy makers and other key stakeholders to support the development of this research programme.

The Children's Society is a leading children's charity committed to making childhood better for all children in the UK. Our national network of centres and projects deliver specialist services for children who face danger or disadvantage in their daily lives; children who are unable to find the support they need anywhere else. Our schools work, children's centres and mentoring programmes help children develop the skills and confidence they need to make the most of their childhood and play a full part in their local communities. Our research and campaigning aims to influence the thinking of everyone - creating real change and making childhood better for all children.

For further information please contact: Gwyther Rees, Research Director, 0113 246 5131, gwyther.rees@childrenssociety.org.ukThe Children’s Society, Town Centre House, Merrion Centre, Leeds LS2 8LY

or visit: www.childrenssociety.org.uk/research

Referenes

1 UNICEF report on childhood in industrialised countries, 2007 2 The Children’s Society is currently overseeing The Good Childhood Inquiry. The Inquiry will report in early 2009. 3 These broad domains are derived from a framework originally proposed by John Fisher. Similar frameworks have also been suggested by other authors.

This document can be made available in alternative formats The Good Childhood® is a registered trademark of The Children's Society. © Intellectual property of The Children’s Society Charity registration No. 221124 | photograph modelled for The Children’s Society © Laurence Dutton