The Children Left Behind: A League Table of Inequality in Child Well-Being in the World's Rich Countries. Innocenti Report Card 9

N

40

Foreign Countries; Well Being; Developed Nations; Equal Education; Child Health; Poverty; Family Influence; Family Income; Family Environment; Educational Resources; Housing; Mathematics Achievement; Science Achievement; Reading Achievement; Eating Habits; Physical Activity Level; Access to Education; Access to Health Care; Nutrition; Social Justice; Social Influences; Costs; Early Intervention; Child Care

Europe; North America; Asia; South America; Australia; New Zealand

1605-7317

Whether in health, in education, or in material well-being, some children will always fall behind the average. The critical question is -- how far behind? Is there a point beyond which falling behind is not inevitable but policy susceptible, not unavoidable but unacceptable, not inequality but inequity? There are no widely agreed theoretical answers to these questions. Report Card 9 seeks to stimulate debate on the issue by introducing a common measure of 'bottom-end inequality'. This permits each country's performance to be assessed according to the standard of what the best-performing countries have been able to achieve. Such a standard may not represent the best that may be aspired to in theory, but in practice it suggests a level below which 'falling behind' is manifestly not inevitable. This Report Card presents a first overview of inequalities in child well-being for 24 of the world's richest countries. Three dimensions of inequality are examined: material well-being, education, and health. In each case and for each country, the question asked is "how far behind are children being allowed to fall?" [Support for this report was provided by Andorran, Australian, Belgian, German, Swiss and United Kingdom National Committees for UNICEF.]

ERIC

2019

ED595433