Charity unveils map of well-being

Detailed monitoring of children’s well-being is needed to ensure
that resources to improve their lives are been correctly targeted,
a report published this week recommends.

The research, by Save the Children and the University of York,
finds wide disparities in the indicators of the quality of
children’s lives between the four home nations and even within each
region.

For example, Townhill in Swansea has a child poverty rate of 80 per
cent compared with 3 per cent in neighbouring North Killay, while
Northern Ireland has the highest infant mortality rate but the
lowest teenage pregnancy rate.

The report covers 22 issues that affect child well-being, ranging
from poverty and education to youth suicide.

Save the Children policy and strategy manager Madeline Tearse said:
“It is impossible to imagine how governments can effectively reach
those children most in need of their support without detailed
UK-wide and country-level monitoring of children’s
well-being.”

– The Well-being of Children in the UK from www.savethechildren.org.uk