Family conflict 'significantly harms children's happiness'
Posted on 27 January 2010
The research says that young people who felt that their family got along well had much higher average levels of well-being than those who did not, irrespective of the family structure in which they lived.
This survey makes a major contribution to our understanding of children's subjective well-being in England and the factors that contribute to it
Professor Jonathan Bradshaw
In the first comprehensive investigation of childhood well-being – or happiness - from a young person’s point of view thousands of pupils were asked questions exploring the impact on well-being of family structure, such as living in a lone or step parent family.
The difference between a young person's family getting along - and not - explained 20 per cent of the variation in overall happiness with life, whereas differences in family structure only explained two per cent.
The power of family conflict to undermine children’s lives is just one of many findings in the study, Understanding Children’s Well-being: A National Survey of Young People’s Well-Being, conducted by The Children’s Society in collaboration with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York and research organisation Ipsos MORI.
In the two-year study, a team of researchers put around 100 questions to just under 7,000 children aged 10 to 15, including just over 4,700 from secondary schools. They were asked to rate how happy they were on a scale from 0 to 10 with many aspects of their lives. This is a pioneering approach because previous surveys have tended to focus on problems seen by adults as measures of well-being, rather than the views of young people, as in this survey.
The aim of the research was to develop a more precise understanding of the factors that make young people happy and to create a benchmark “well-being index.” The Children’s Society plans to use the index to measure how the well-being of UK children changes at two-year intervals.
The survey’s co-author, Professor Jonathan Bradshaw of the University of York,
said: “This survey makes a major
contribution to our understanding of children's subjective well-being in England and the
factors that contribute to it. It also
establishes a valuable benchmark that we can use to track changes in well-being
over time.’’
Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, said: ‘’This groundbreaking study is a major step forward in our efforts to understand and enhance the well-being of young people. It shows the vast majority of our children are happy, but it is a major concern that two children in every classroom are unhappy, and that so many are insecure about their appearance and confidence.
“Family conflict emerges in this study as a major cause of childhood unhappiness, and so it is vital that families can get the sort of family mediation and counseling.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The Children’s Society is a leading children’s charity committed to making childhood better for all children in the UK.
- This initial report provides only a short introduction to some of the main topics covered by the well-being survey. It will be followed by a series of more detailed reports over the next year. The Children’s Society plans to launch a ‘’Well-Being Index’’ that will act as a baseline for future repeat surveys to measure changes in young people’s well-being and ensure the issue never falls down the political agenda.
- 'A Good Childhood: searching for values in a competitive age' was published by Penguin on 5 February 2009, priced at £9.99.
- More information on the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York at www.york.ac.uk/depts/spsw/
Contact details
Keep up to date
Subscribe to news feeds
