Can we Compare Children’s Well-being Across Countries? Lessons from the Children’s Worlds Study

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that international comparison of children’s well-being is not only possible but also desirable for anyone interested in the study of well-being and essential for the promotion of children’s well-being across the globe. We start with a critical look at the concept of children’s well-being. We then move our focus to the challenges of international comparative work on child well-being. We do so through the eyes of our experience in the Children’s Worlds Study, a one of its kind international study of children’s which offers new insights in the field of childhood research in many different ways (Rees, G., & Main, G. (2015). Children’s views on their lives and well-being in 15 countries: An initial report on the Children’s Worlds survey, 2013-14. York, UK: Children’s Worlds Project (ISCWeB).). We further discuss some selective findings from our study and we conclude with some future perspectives.