Summary

Policy reforms to children's services in the UK and elsewhere encourage a greater focus on outcomes defined in terms of child well-being. Yet for this to happen, we need not only a better understanding of what child well-being is and how services can improve it, but also the ability to measure child well-being in order to evaluate success.

This book investigates the main approaches to conceptualising child well-being, applies them to the child population using household survey and agency audit data, then considers the implications for children's services. The author:

provides a clear conceptual understanding of five perspectives on well-being: need, rights, poverty, quality of life and social exclusion

demonstrates the value of each perspective

charts levels of child well-being in an inner-London community, including violated rights and social exclusion

sets out the features that children's services must have if they are to improve child well-being defined in these terms

This book should be read by everyone involved in developing, implementing and evaluating children's services, including researchers, policy makers and practitioners.