Understanding and Measuring Child Well-Being in the Region of Attica, Greece: Round One
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Understanding and Measuring Child Well-Being in the Region of Attica, Greece: Round One Eirini Leriou 1 & Aggeliki Kazani 1 & Andreas Kollias 1 & Christina Paraskevopoulou 1 Accepted: 4 August 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This paper aims to establish new, multi-dimensional indicators of child well-being suitable to urban regions such as Attica, Greece, and adjusted to the new form of child poverty that has become apparent during its recent financial crisis. The paper mainly argues that child well-being is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and that the financial crisis produced a specific need for new scientific tools adapted to the particular features that emerged under this circumstance. Within this context, definitions of child wellbeing and child poverty were developed. With these definitions as foundation, a tool comprising many indicators was formulated to record child well-being; this was applied in Attica through questionnaires addressing 27 public schools and three support centers of the organization, The Smile of the Child, covering two periods: the school years between 2010 and 2018 collectively and the school year 2018–2019 individually. The total number of children in the sample was 878, belonging to three distinct school categories. The results were mapped out in seven clusters. The theoretical and methodological framework of the study was confirmed through a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results reveal that child well-being improved in the period 2018– 2019 while there were evident concerns regarding unemployment and whether the education individuals receive is relevant to what kind of people they ought to be. Finally, an action plan focusing on these dimensions and some of the clusters along with an auxiliary tool for decision-making founded on fuzzy logic have been suggested. Keywords Child well-being . Welfare economics . Sustainable development . Indicators .
Public policy . Fuzzy logic . Action plan . Decision making . Plato’s Philebus . Aristotle . Attica
* Eirini Leriou [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
E. Leriou et al.
1 Introduction The current economic situation of Greece and the negative effects it has on society as a whole are reflected, to a large extent, in the rapid deterioration of child well-being (Bougiokos and Fasoulis 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015; Papanastatiou et al. 2016). The most contemporary child well-being indicator on a global level is the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) (Guhn et al. 2012; Schonert-Reichl et al. 2011, 2013), which is applied in Vancouver, British Columbia. However, it does not investigate the material aspect of children’s living conditions – this is carried out by Canada’s public services, both locally and on a national level. A number of other indicators have been developed, each approaching the subjective well-being of children by stressing, life satisfaction (Casas et al. 2013; Dinisman et al. 2012; Huebner and Furlong 2016; Llosada-Gistau et al. 2015; Montserrat
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