Child Well-Being in the UK: Children’s Views of Families

Abstract

The well-being of children in the UK is currently the subject of renewed debate as a result of the publication of the recent UNICEF report comparing child well-being in the UK with Spain and Sweden (UNICEF 2011). This report was commissioned following the result of the earlier UNICEF Report Card 7: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries (2007) wherein 21 countries were compared and the UK was at the bottom of the league table. The aim of this latest research was to explore some of the reasons behind these statistics. It paid particular attention to the interplay between materialism, inequality, and well-being.