To what extent is children's well-being a priority in modern Western Essay

To what extent is children's well-being a priority in modern Western societies - Essay Example Inequalities have risen since the 1960s in the small group of OECD countries composed of the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Despite data on this group of countries revealing a change in the trend in the 1990s, overall the proportion of children living in relative poverty has expanded (UNICEF, 2005). Bradshaw and Mayhew’s (2005) comprehensive report on the physical, cognitive, behavioural and emotional wellbeing of children in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, provides wide-ranging data on the various aspects. In the European Union, in 2002-2003, the fifth highest rate of relative child poverty was found in the United Kingdom where 28% of children lived in households with incomes below fifty percent of the average, after allocating for housing costs. Darton et al. (2003) observe that compared to the situation one generation ago, current poverty in the United Kingdom is most prevalent in households with children. ... Charting Children’s Well-Being in Modern Western Societies The Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted in 1989 formulated a new definition of childhood rooted in human rights. It called for the provision of essential goods and services towards the fulfillment of children’s rights to survival, health and education. The Convention also indicated â€Å"a growing recognition of the need to create a protective environment to shield children from exploitation, abuse and violence† (UNICEF, 2005, p.1). The harm caused by poverty, conflict, and HIV/ AIDS continues far beyond the years of childhood, raising the possibilities of the next generation being impacted by the same dangers, threatening the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals aiming for a â€Å"world fit for children† (UNICEF, 2005, p.1). Child Poverty in Advanced Industrialised Nations The findings presented by the Innocenti Report Card (UNICEF, 2000) reveals that the rates of child pov erty in the world’s wealthiest nations range from 3% to over 25%; nearly 17% of the rich world’s children is living in poverty; and totally about 47 million children in the nations of the OECD live below the poverty lines of their nation. Further, â€Å"in the league table of relative child poverty, the bottom four places are occupied by the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, and Mexico† (UNICEF, 2000, p.2). At the same time, in the league table of absolute child poverty, Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland take up the four lowest positions. Brown (2012) argues that the indicators of child and youth wellbeing are crucial mechanisms for improving the lives of children. The main indicators of child wellbeing are in the areas of health,