What do we mean by 'wellbeing'? And why might it matter?

Gill Ereaut & Rebecca Whiting; Department for Children, Schools and Families

This research aimed to clarify some of the implications of the term 'wellbeing', which is widely used in DCSF and by other agencies and groups (although not usually by parents or children), since it can be ambiguous. The authors suggest that DCSF should explicitly define wellbeing in two ways: as a broad philosophical ideal, and as an operationalised definition: the specific things DCSF sets out to do that it believes will contribute to its ambition, and which it will define and measure.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

Three years on: Survey of the emotional development and well-being of children and young people

A Clements, D Fletcher and N Parry-Langdon; Office for National Statistics

This 2007 survey follows-up the second national survey of children's mental health and well-being in the UK, carried out in 2004. It identifies factors associated with the onset of childhood emotional and conduct disorders and their continuation between the surveys; resilience and protective factors; and the educational impact of these conditions.

The report is available from the National Statistics website.

October 2008

mental health

Consultation on a national framework for assessing children and young people's continuing care

Department of Health

The National Framework for assessing children and young people's continuing care is intended to assist Primary Care Trusts to apply a consistent and transparent approach to assessing the healthcare needs of children and young people, and to work jointly with local authorities to provide services in the light of those needs. This framework will apply in respect of children and young people under the age of 18 years.

The consultation is available from the Department of Health website. The deadline for responses is 31 December 2008.

October 2008

children's health

Learning together to safeguard children: developing a multi-agency systems approach for case reviews

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)

This report presents a systems model of organisational learning that can be used across agencies involved in safeguarding and child protection work and could help identify why certain factors at work are likely to lead to good or poor safeguarding practice. The model has been adapted from accident investigation methods used in aviation, engineering and, more recently, health.

The report and accompanying guidance can be downloaded from the SCIE website.

October 2008

safeguarding children

Changes in food and drink advertising and promotion to children

Department of Health

Annual spend for child-themed food and drink advertisements (adverts using licensed characters, children's media connection, free gifts or novelty food design) across all media decreased by almost half between 2003 and 2007, falling 41 per cent from £103m in 2003 to £61m in 2007. This was most notable in TV advertising which fell sharply in 2007 with a drop of 46 per cent compared to 2003. In particular, there was less child-focused advertising for confectionery, fast food restaurants, non-alcoholic drinks and cereals. In contrast, radio, internet and cinema showed a combined increase of 11 per cent in 2007 compared to 2003.

The report is available from the Department of Health website.

October 2008

marketing, media

Promoting take-up of formal childcare among low-income families: Message testing research

Department for Children, Schools and Families

This research aimed to discover the most effective way that the DCSF could market formal childcare to low income parents, particularly those who are not currently considering using it. Interviews and group discussions with low income parents were undertaken to understand their attitudes to formal childcare and their views of various messages used to promote it.

Related to this is the report, 'Understanding attitudes to childcare and childcare language among low-income parents', research with parents, particularly Pakistani and Bangladeshi ones, about their views on childcare and on the language used by the government to describe it.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

childcare

Are we there yet? Improving governance and resource management in children's trusts

Audit Commission

This report examined the progress local councils and their partners are making in developing children's trusts. The report concludes that the 'children's trusts' created by the government after the death of Victoria Climbie have been confused and confusing and that there is little evidence of better outcomes for children and young people resulting from them. However, Every Child Matters has provided a clear focus for local agencies. The report concludes that children's trusts need to develop substantially if they are to bring the intended benefits, but that further mandated change could cause further confusion. Local agreements appeared to work better than external direction.

The report is available from the Audit Commission website.

October 2008

local strategy

Reducing gender inequalities to create a sustainable care system

S Himmelweit and H Land; Joseph Rowntree Foundation

One of several viewpoint papers published recently by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on social care, this paper discusses the intersection between care and gender inequality. Women mainly provide family care, but as women's economic opportunities increase they will not continue to bear the costs of providing care unaided. To create a sustainable care system, care and carers must be better supported and more highly valued to involve more men in caring and reduce gender inequalities.

The paper can be downloaded from the JRF website.

October 2008

carers

Reunification of Looked After Children with their Parents: Patterns, Interventions and Outcomes

E Farmer, W Sturgess and T O'Neill; Department for Children, Schools and Families

This research followed up 180 looked after children, aged 0-14, two years on from their return home to their parents. There was considerable variation in the priority and resources given to reunification by the different authorities in the study and the return breakdown rates in our local authorities varied widely from a high of 75 per cent of returns to a low of 32 per cent. In many cases, the concerns that had led to care had often not been addressed. Returns were significantly more stable when specialist help for the parent or child was provided. Returns subject to scrutiny by the courts had high levels of assessment, monitoring and service and were more likely to succeed.

The authors recommend that assessment and case planning must specify from the outset what needs to change, over what timescales before return is possible, and that reunification needs to be given greater focus in policy and in social work education and practice.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

children in care

Health-led Parenting Interventions in Pregnancy and Early Years

J Barlow et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families

This study uses existing review level evidence alongside the advice of experts, to identify the most effective and cost-effective health-led parenting support services and programmes in pregnancy and the first three years of life, both those offered universally and those targeted on specific groups. Conclusions include the need for support to both mothers and fathers to be focused on the parent-infant relationship, both during pregnancy and in the postnatal period, and the need for clarity around target group and expectations and fidelity of delivery. The authors point out that although staff characteristics, training and supervision are crucial to the success of programmes, there is still relatively little in the research literature on this area.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

maternity services, parenting programmes

Individual budgets for families with disabled children: scoping study

M Prabhakar et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families

As part of Aiming High for Disabled Children, the Department for Children, Schools and Families has commissioned a scoping study prior to the piloting of Individual Budgets for families with disabled children. The main report from the study has been published alongside a literature review drawing together the existing national and international evidence on the effectiveness of Direct Payment and Individual Budget approaches for families with disabled children, and a detailed case study report on five local authorities

Both reports are available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

disabled children

Parents as partners in early learning - case studies

These ten case studies describe projects developed as part of the Parents as Partners in Early Learning Project. They set out the strategies used in each and the key findings.

The case studies are available from the Every Child Matters website.

October 2008

disabled children

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child report on the UK

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomed positive work done by the Labour government since the last examination, in 2002, including the Every Child Matters agenda. However, it said that the UK should prohibit, as a matter of priority, all corporal punishment in the family, including smacking. The report called on the government to follow international standards of justice and raise the age of criminal responsibility, which is 10 in England at present, higher than in most other developed nations. The committee expressed concern about the high number of children given custodial sentences and denied the statutory right to education. The report regretted a "general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children" in the media and elsewhere. It suggested the government should "regulate children's participation in TV programmes, notably reality shows, so as to ensure [the shows] do not violate their rights".

The report can be read here.

October 2008

children's rights

National survey of parents and children: Family life, aspirations and engagement with learning 2008

N Gilby; Department for Children, Schools and Families

This research consisted of separate surveys filled out by parents and children aged 10-19 from the same households. The findings covered parenting philosophies, parental self-identity and well-being, attitudes of the young person towards self, school and life, control, conflict management, and parental aspirations and engagement with learning. Nine parent segments and seven child segments were identified based on their attitudinal profile and relationship with the other person.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

parenting outcomes

Adult-young person bonds: A qualitative segmentation

Define Research and Insight; Department for Children, Schools and Families

In this qualitative research with pairs consisting of a child or young person and their parent or carer, researchers identified 12 relationship dynamics, determined by the role the adult plays in the relationship.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

parenting outcomes

The social and personal benefits of learning: A summary of key research findings

L Feinstein, D Budge, J Vorhaus and K Duckworth; Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning

This report sets out research evidence on the impact of learning on health, crime, parenting and citizenship. Many of the findings in this report are derived from analyses of the cohort studies that are tracking the lives of people born in Britain in 1958 and 1970. The report states that 70-90 per cent of children (in the 1970 cohort) who went on to experience multiple deprivation at the age of 30 could have been identified from what was known about their personal and family backgrounds at the age of 10.

The report is available from the centre's website

October 2008

inequality, educational achievement

Changes in earnings inequality and mobility in Great Britain 1978/9-2005/6

R Dickens and A McKnight

This paper examines changes in earnings inequality and mobility between 1978/9 and 2005/6 using a unique dataset that includes both those with secure patterns of employment and a wider group who experience periods without earnings. It finds significant increases in annual earnings inequality for both male and female employees over time. Mobility for men appears to have fallen through the 1980s and 1990s but with some greater mobility since 2002. For women there has been lower mobility and less variation over time. Increases in employment for women have led to more equalising mobility.

The report can be downloaded from the website.

October 2008

inequality

Estimating the costs of child poverty

D Hirsch; Joseph Rowntree Foundation

This paper summarises the findings from three reports estimating some of the tangible costs resulting from child poverty:

• The GDP cost of the lost earning potential of adults who grew up in poverty
• The costs of child poverty for individuals and society: a literature review
• The public service costs of child poverty

Public spending to deal with the fallout of child poverty is estimated to be about £12 billion a year, about 60 per cent of which goes on personal social services, school education and police and criminal justice. The annual cost of below-average employment rates and earnings levels among adults who grew up in poverty is estimated at about £13 billion, of which £5 billion represents extra benefit payments and lower tax revenues; the remaining £8 billion is lost earnings to individuals, affecting gross domestic product (GDP).

The reports can be downloaded from the JRF website.

October 2008

poverty

Changes to benefits for lone parents

From 24 November 2008, lone parents whose youngest child is aged 12 or over, will no longer be eligible for Income Support, and will have to claim Jobseeker's Allowance instead. This change will also apply to lone parents whose youngest child is aged 10 or over from 26 October 2009, and to lone parents whose youngest child is aged 7 or over from 25 October 2010. The changes will not apply to parents who have children who are entitled to the middle-rate or highest-rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, who get Carer's Allowance, or who are fostering and have a foster child living with them.

A summary of the changes is available from the DWP website.

October 2008

poverty

Practitioners' perspectives on child poverty

D Cameron et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families

To the practitioners in this research, 'poverty' was not commonly recognised as a relevant or appropriate term, as it was seen as stigmatising. The practitioners saw child poverty as multi-faceted and as a long-term cyclical phenomenon. They described a need to recognise and tackle 'hidden poverty' and debt, and the importance of addressing parents' problems such as substance abuse, affordable childcare and community problems, alongside material poverty. They stressed the need to join up child poverty targets with Every Child Matters, and to avoid funding only services which offer measurable short-term outcomes.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

poverty

Measures to improve women's pension entitlements

The government will today propose an amendment to the Pensions Bill to allow people to buy up to an additional six years of voluntary National Insurance contributions, over and above those permitted under the current time limits, to increase their state pension entitlements. This is intended to benefit women who have taken time out of paid employment because of caring responsibilities.

More information is available from the DWP website.

October 2008

tax and benefits, carers

The UK fuel poverty strategy: 6th annual progress report

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

This report shows that in England in 2006 there were estimated to be around 2.4 million fuel poor households. The rise in the number of households in fuel poverty during 2006 was due to increases in consumer energy prices. The overall cost of energy to domestic consumers rose by 22 per cent in real terms between 2005 and 2006, with gas prices rising by 29 per cent and electricity prices rising by 19 per cent. Although single person households are the most likely group to be calculated as fuel poor, households with dependent children are most likely to state that they are unable to keep comfortably warm.

The report is available from the Defra website.

October 2008

poverty

Consultation: Indicators of a school's contribution to well-being

Ofsted

As signalled in the Children's Plan and in the well-being guidance, the DCSF and Ofsted have been working to develop strong school-level indicators of pupils' well-being. These indicators will improve the information available to schools to help them assess the well-being issues their pupils face and to evaluate the school's contribution to promoting pupil well-being. Ofsted will be looking for evidence from all schools on well-being and therefore the indicators will apply to all maintained schools, primary, secondary, special and Pupil Referral Units and to academies. DCSF and Ofsted have now launched a consultation paper with proposals about those indicators.

The consultation is available from the Ofsted website. The deadline for responses is 16 January 2009.

October 2008

poverty

Statutory sex and relationships education to be introduced

Following the recommendations of the review into sex and relationships education in schools, the government has announced that Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) will become a compulsory part of the curriculum from Key Stage 1 to 4 (ages 5 to 16). Headteacher, Sir Alasdair MacDonald, will lead a review into how best to make PSHE compulsory, ensuring that there is a place in the timetable and flexibility in the curriculum to take schools' ethos, pupils' needs and parents' values into account. Updated guidance will also be produced covering the content of the curriculum, based on the existing non-statutory programme of study.

The review can be downloaded here and the government's response here.

October 2008

sexual health, sexuality, emotional literacy

Pilot puts Jobcentre Plus advisers into children's centres

In this pilot, parents will have access to Jobcentre Plus personal advisers in Children's Centres to help them access work focused services. The pilot will also test what other support may help parents move into employment. The pilot will run in 30 children's centres in ten local authorities from January 2009. It will complement the existing initiative of providing tax credits advice through Children's Centres, which is being expanded following a successful pilot earlier in the year.

More information is available from the DWP website.

October 2008

children's centres, welfare to work

TellUs3 National Report

Ofsted

The TellUs3 survey was a survey of almost 150,000 10 to 15 year-olds in England. They were asked about smoking and drinking, what they worried about, how safe they felt, what they thought of the information and advice they are given, their feelings about school, activities outside school, whether they thought their views were listened to, and their plans for the future.

The report is available from the Ofsted website.

October 2008

children's centres, welfare to work

Effective early interventions for youth at risk of future poor outcomes: A rapid evidence assessment

J Thomas et al; Department for Children, Schools and Families

The first part of this project identified which risks and protective factors are associated with poor outcomes for young people identified by the Targeted Youth Support initiative. These factors related to the young person's family, school, community, peers and individual factors. The second part identified what services and interventions work to reduce these poor outcomes. The report draws together messages arising across the outcomes for young people, and takes an initial look at multiprovider interventions.

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

educational achievement, anti-social behaviour, parenting outcomes, mental health

Use of alcohol among children and young people

Department for Children, Schools and Families

This research investigated the views of young people and their parents about alcohol. General view that it was not a personal problem but lay elsewhere in society, and that alcohol is not a drug. The authors identified 'myths', for example that 'you learn best by your own mistakes' or 'I know my own limits'. The role of parents is criticised, particularly those who introduce young people to alcohol early, believing in the 'continental model'.
part of mainstream culture

The report is available from the DCSF website.

October 2008

alcohol

Tale of two generations

Addaction

The results of these surveys among adults and young people show that one in five (19 per cent) young people say their parents have taken drugs and one in ten (nine per cent) say their parents still take drugs. Yet overwhelmingly young people describe themselves as being 'against' drugs (90 per cent) and only one in ten (nine per cent) think celebrities make taking drugs seem 'cool'. The majority of young people (59 per cent) say their parents 'understand about drugs'.

The report can be downloaded from the Addaction website.

October 2008

substance misuse

Old enough to make a mark? Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

Ministry of Justice

The Youth Citizenship Commission is consulting on the minimum age for elections in the UK. This consultation paper seeks evidence and views on whether the voting age should be lowered to 16.

The consultation is available from the Ministry of Justice website. The deadline for responses is 20 January 2009.

October 2008

substance misuse