THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL SET OF CHILD WELL-BEING INDICATORS IRELAND Sinéad Hanafin, PhD Anne-Marie Brooks

1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL SET OF CHILD WELL-BEING INDICATORS IRELAND Sinéad Hanafin, PhD Anne-Marie Brooks

2. CHILD WELL-BEING INDICATORSPresentation overview • Provide an overview of: • the approach used to develop the national set of child well-being indicators in Ireland; and • the characteristics of the national set of child well-being indicators, including guiding definitions, guiding principles and selection criteria • Highlight key considerations and challenges when reporting on child well-being.

3. CHILD WELL-BEING INDICATORSApproaches to indicator development • Data-driven • Policy-driven • Theory-driven

4. CHILD WELL-BEING INDICATORSGuiding definition of well-being ‘Healthy and successful individual functioning, positive relationships and a social ecology that providers safety, human and civil rights, social justice and participation in civil society’ (Andrews et al., 2002, P. 103)

5. WELL-BEING INDICATORSGuiding principles • Go beyond basic survival in its representation of well-being • Focus on positive as well as negative aspects of children’s lives • Take account of the experience of childhood in itself • Include some of the new domains of child well-being

6. WELL-BEING INDICATORSGuiding selection criteria • Comprehensive coverage • Children of all ages • Clear and comprehensible • Positive outcomes • Forward-looking • Rigorous methods • Geographically detailed • Cost-efficient • Reflective of social goals

7. CHILD WELL-BEING INDICATORSIreland’s approach to indicator development • A background review of indicators sets in use elsewhere and the compilation of an inventory of key indicators, domains and indicator selection criteria; • A feasibility study of the availability of national statistics to construct the indicators identified in the previous step; • A study on Children’s Understandings of Well-Being; and • A consensus process referred to as a Delphi technique, where participants on ‘a panel of expertise’ agreed indicators for use in the Irish context.

8. WELL-BEING INDICATORSOutcome 42 child well-being indicators 7 socio-demographic indicators 4 to be developed • Pets and animals • Quality of early childhood care and education • Values and respect • Nutritional outcomes

9. SELECTION CRITERIAComprehensive 95.8% agreed that the indicator set included measures that assess well-being across a broad range of domains including:

10. SELECTION CRITERIAChildren of all ages 83.3% agreed that the indicator set included enough measures for children of every age from birth through to adolescence including: • The number of births within each 500g-weight interval, expressed as a proportion of all registered live and stillbirths. • The number of children under 5 in various early childcare and education arrangements, • The number of children in age categories 8-11 and 12-17 who report to feel happy with the way they are.

11. SELECTION CRITERIAPositive and negative 93.8% agreed that the indicator set included enough negative measures and enough positive measures of well-being including: • The number of children referred to the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme, expressed as a proportion of all children. • The number of children aged 11, 13 and 15 who report that students participate in making the rules at their school.

12. SELECTION CRITERIAObjective and subjective 90.0% agreed that the indicator set included enough objective measures and enough subjective measures of well-being: • The number of children living in households with a household income below the national 60% median, equivalised using the modified OECD equivalence scale, expressed as a proportion of all children. • The number of children aged 11, 13 and 15 who report to be happy with their life at present, expressed as a proportion of all children in the same age groups.

13. DEVLOPMENTS • Middle childhood period • HBSC Survey and Growing Up in Ireland – the National Longitudinal Study • Maximisation of existing data sources • Inclusion of markers, e.g. disability and ethnicity in surveys • Development of new data sources, e.g.: • Surveillance of Obesity of Irish Children • Quality of ECCE and pets and animals data • Children’s Data Strategy • State of the Nations Children Reports

15. REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING Considerations • Indicators need to be available over time • International comparisons are needed • Information on subgroups is needed

16. REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING Indicators need to be available over time E.g. Decrease in infant mortality rate: 3.7 per 1,000 in 2006 5.6 per 1,000 in 2002

17. 20 15 10 5 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING Indicators need to be available over time Challenges: • E.g. Health Behaviour of School-Going Children data collected on four-yearly interval State of the Nations Children Report (2006)

18. REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING International comparisons are needed E.g.: infant mortality rate: Ireland: 3.7 per 1,000 in 2006 5.6 per 1,000 in 2002 Sweden and Finland: 2.8 per 1,000 in 2006

19. REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING International comparisons are needed Challenges: • Variation in socio-demographic variables used across countries • Variation in definitions used across countries • e.g. in Ireland the first trimester of pregnancy is defined as up to 12 weeks under the National Perinatal Reporting System, while the World Health Organisation defines the first trimester as up to 14 weeks. • Variation in data quality and timeliness across countries

20. REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING Information on sub-groups is needed E.g. Breastfeeding levels across mother’s occupation

21. REPORTING ON CHILD WELL-BEING Information on sub-groups is needed • Challenges: • Not all data is capable of dissagregration by • Age, Sex, social class, geographic location, or other important variables (e.g. Traveller Children, Non-Irish National Children, Asylum Seeking Children etc) • Not all data sources have national coverage • e.g. National Physical and Sensory Disability Database has 70 per cent coverage • Variations in geographic variables used across data sources • e.g. Health Board Region, NUTS Regions, Local Authority Areas

22. Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Department of Health and Children Hawkins House Dublin 2, Ireland Tel: + 353-1-6743200 Sinead_Hanafin@health.irlgov.ie www.omc.gov.ie www.childrensdatabase.ie