Tài liệu Measuring National Well-being - Children''''''''s Well-being, 2012 docx

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26 October 2012
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Figure 2: Percentage of children born with a low birth weight for selected OECD countries, 2011
International
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The infant mortality rate is the number of children who die aged less than one year old per 1,000
births. A lower infant mortality rate can indicate that better care is being taken of children and is
linked to several factors including access to health care services for pregnant mothers and infants,
socio-economic status of the child’s parents, the health of the mother, low birth weight and preterm
birth. In April 2012, ONS reported that:
• In 2010, the infant mortality rate was 4 deaths per 1,000 live births, the lowest ever recorded in
England and Wales, and compares with an infant mortality rate of 12 deaths per 1,000 live births
in 1980 and 5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2009
• Infant mortality rates in 2010 were lowest among babies of mothers aged 30 to 34 years (4
deaths per 1,000 live births) and highest among babies of mothers aged 40 years and over (6
deaths per 1,000 live births)
• In 2010, the infant mortality rates for very low birth weight babies (under 1,500 grams) and
low birth weight babies (under 2,500 grams) were 165 and 37 deaths per 1,000 live births
respectively
In 1911, 130 out of every 1,000 children born in England and Wales would die before their first
birthday. The decrease in infant deaths between 1911 and 2010 is because of considerable
improvements in health care, including the control of infectious diseases and public health
infrastructure over this time period. For the UK as a whole infant mortality has been declining and is
now only about a quarter of what it was in 1970. The infant mortality rate is currently similar to the
OECD average (Figure 3).
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Figure 3: UK infant mortality rates compared to the OECD average, 2011
United Kingdom/OECD
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Another reflection of good health care is the length of life that children in the UK can expect at birth.
Based on data for 2008-10, males at birth can expect to live for 78 years and females for 82 years.
Over 80 per cent of this time is expected to be spent in good health by both sexes if the 2008-10
levels of self-reported health are maintained.
One area which may affect the future well-being of a child is the age of its mother. Older mothers
are more at risk of delivering their child early and encountering the associated risks. However, being
the child of a young mother or being a young mother can also affect your well-being. In 2010, there
were 1,063 births to mothers under 16 years old in England and Wales (ONS, October 2011). Some
of the problems associated with becoming a mother at that age include disrupted schooling which
may lead to the mother and child living in relative poverty and becoming a low socio-economic
household. In addition, children born to teenage mothers are twice as likely to become teenage
parents themselves (Rendall, 2003).
There are a number of risky behaviours children can undertake that can affect their health including
the use of alcohol and smoking.
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Alcohol
Drinking alcohol remains a risky behaviour that can have detrimental effects on a child’s health and
well-being. In general, the proportion of children who have ever had an alcoholic drink has declined
over recent years as has the amount of alcohol that they drink. Boys are more likely to report being
drunk than girls in Great Britain (Bradshaw, 2011).
The Survey of Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England (SDDS) found that
45 per cent of 11 to 15 year old pupils had drunk alcohol at least once. Table 1 shows that although
there was very little change between 2010 and 2011 the proportion of pupils ever having had a drink
has been decreasing since 2005.
Table 1: Proportion of pupils who have ever had an alcoholic drink by sex, 2005 to 2011
England
Percentages

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011


Boys
57 56 54 53 53 46 46
Girls
60 55 54 52 50 45 44
Total
58 55 54 52 51 45 45


Source: Health and Social Information Centre, 2011
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There was also a decline between 2009 and 2011 in the proportion of pupils in England who report
having alcohol in the last week. Figure 4 shows that 12 per cent of pupils reported drinking alcohol
in the last week in 2011 compared to 18 per cent in 2009. There was no significant change between
2010 (13 per cent) and 2011.
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Figure 4: When pupils last had an alcoholic drink
England
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The survey also found that only 7 per cent of pupils in England in 2011 said they had drunk alcohol
every week: down from 20 per cent in 2001. The proportion of pupils who had never used alcohol
has gone up in recent years, from 39 per cent in 2003 to 55 per cent in 2011.
This decreasing trend in regular alcohol use is similar to findings from The Health Behaviours of
School-age Children Survey (HBSC). The proportion of 15 year olds in England reporting drinking
alcohol at least once a week has decreased over the years from just over 50 per cent in 2002 to
around 30 per cent in 2010. However, the study found that the level of drunkenness at this age has
not shown a corresponding decline (HBSC England, 2010). In Scotland, the proportion of 15 year
old pupils who said they drink alcohol at least once a week has gone down from around 43 per cent
in 2002 to 27 per cent in 2010 and the level of drunkenness among 15 year olds was lower in 2010
(44 per cent) than it was in 2002 (52 per cent). Data for Wales also show a similar trend with 33 per
26 October 2012
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cent of 15 year olds reporting drinking alcohol once a week or more in 2009/10 compared to 56 per
cent in 2002.
Smoking
Another behaviour which can be detrimental to children’s health is smoking. Tobacco use,
particularly cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the UK and in the world
today (WHO, 2008). In the UK around 100,000 deaths per year are due to smoking related
diseases. It has a long lasting impact on the well-being of individuals including the risk of developing
smoking related diseases.
Children whose parents smoke are at risk of developing respiratory diseases including asthma
and also likely to die prematurely. Children who smoke themselves are at risk of dying prematurely
from diseases such as lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - COPD (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2006).
Nearly 65 per cent of all current smokers and ex-smokers started smoking when they were below
18 years old (ONS, 2009). Among children who smoke a quarter had their first cigarette before
they reached the age of 10 (WHO). Smoking is also strongly linked with the likelihood of the use of
alcohol and drugs (Bradshaw, 2011).
Overall, studies are showing that in the UK smoking by children is declining over time. Findings
from the Survey of Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England (SDDS),
Health Behaviours in School age Children (HBSC) and the Young Person’s Behaviours and Attitudes
Survey in Northern Ireland all show that the proportion of pupils reporting ever having smoked
cigarettes or smoking regularly has been decreasing over time.
Data from SDDS show that the proportion of pupils who had ever smoked was about 25 per cent
in 2011 compared to 53 per cent in 1980 (SDDS, 2011). Figure 5 shows that lower proportions of
younger than older pupils are likely to report smoking in the last week. These findings were similar to
those in the HBSC Survey in England.
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Figure 5: Proportion of pupils who smoked in the last week, by age and sex, 2011
England
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The most recently available data that allows comparison with other countries shows that the
proportion of 15 year olds who reported smoking at least once a week in 2010 was lower in Great
Britain (14 per cent) than the average for all countries that took part in the HBSC Survey (18 per
cent). It was also lower when compared to other countries like France (20 per cent), Germany (15
per cent) and Italy (23 per cent) (Currie et al, 2012).
Poverty and Parental Economic Activity
Parents’ employment status has implications for children’s well-being. Children whose parents are
in employment are at a reduced risk of poverty and its implications. Having an income can lead to
more access to available resources and services and improvements in children’s well-being.
Poverty
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A recent paper from the Institute of Economic Research (Knies, 2012) explored whether child life
satisfaction is associated with household income using interviews with about 4,900 children aged
10 to 15 from Wave 1 of the Understanding Society Survey. The results suggest that family income
and income-based measures of poverty are not associated with child life satisfaction as perceived
by children themselves. However, a range of other indicators of material well-being show some
association with child life satisfaction. Reported life satisfaction was lower for those children who
lived in households where adults experience material deprivation and the association was more
marked if the children themselves are deprived of things other children enjoy. The associations also
held when differences in other aspects of children’s lives such as the quality of the schools they go
to, the number of friends they have, their health and levels of physical activity.
While on average children living in low income families do not report low levels of well-being, poverty
in childhood has very strong associations with children’s outcomes in life. Bradshaw (2011) asserts
that one of the best measures of a country’s success is how it protects its children from poverty and
its effects. This makes poverty one of the important factors for both children’s and overall national
well-being.
A review of evidence of children’s views on poverty revealed that experiences of poverty in
childhood can be damaging and its effects disruptive. Children living in poverty mentioned several
areas of concern that covered most of the areas of well-being that the ONS is using to measure for
national well-being (Ridge 2009). These include:
• Being anxious that money coming into their households would not be enough to meet needs
• Material deprivation including toys, games, and essentials like food
• Restricted opportunities to make and sustain friendships
• Restricted opportunities at school due to inability to buy study materials or pay for social trips
• Not fitting in due to lack of possessions or clothes similar to those of well off children
• Taking on additional chores in the home when parents had to work long hours
• Poor quality housing and homelessness
• Perceiving neighbourhoods as insecure and sometimes dangerous
The accepted current measure of poverty for individuals is that they are living in a household with an
income below 60 per cent of the contemporary median income (for this analysis we are using this
measure after housing costs have been deducted). Data from the Family Resources Survey (Figure
6) show that in 2010/11 27 per cent of children lived in households where the income was below 60
per cent of the current median after housing costs had been accounted for. This is a reduction since
1998/99 when 34 per cent of children were living in these circumstances.
26 October 2012
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Figure 6: Children in households with income below 60 per cent of contemporary median income
after housing costs, 1998/99 to 2010/11
United Kingdom
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As is reported in the article on ‘Personal finance’ published by the Measuring National Well-being
Programme in September 2012, 76 per cent of weekly household income was from social security
benefits for UK households in the lowest fifth of the income distribution in 2010, while for those in the
highest fifth 76 per cent of weekly income came from wages and salaries. Therefore, children in the
poorest households are also more likely to be living in households where adults are not working and
are receiving benefits of some kind.
Parental Economic Activity
Figure 7 shows that in the United Kingdom the majority of children (51 per cent) live in households
where both parents work and nearly 16 per cent of children are in households where both parents do
not work. Northern Ireland has the highest proportion of children living in working households (57 per
cent) followed by Scotland (56 per cent), Wales (52 per cent) and England (51 per cent). Wales had
the highest proportion of children living in workless households (20 per cent) compared to England,
Scotland and Northern Ireland (all with approximately 16 per cent).
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Figure 7: Percentage of children(1) by economic activity status of adults in their household(2),
October to December 2011
United Kingdom
Notes:
1. Children are those under 16 years old
2. Mixed households contain both working and workless members
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Education and Skills
Children’s education and development of skills are important for their well-being and for that of the
nation as a whole. A child’s knowledge, skills and competencies will contribute to future human
capital once the individual enters the labour market. Human capital is one of the important measures
of a nation’s well-being as its accumulation is an important driver of output growth (Durlauf et al,
2005).
Children’s future labour market outcomes can also be linked to how much knowledge, skills and
competencies they acquire. In the UK adult population, individuals with low skills or levels of