Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Well-Being of America's Children

Developing and Improving the Child and Youth Well-Being Index

  • Book
  • © 2012

Overview

Editors:
  1. Kenneth C. Land

    1. Dept. Sociology, Duke University, Durham, USA

    View editor publications

    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Improves the understanding of how the well-being of American's children can be measured and improved
  • The first book of its kind to address the issue of developing and Improving the Child and Youth Well-Being Index
  • Includes a systematic description and presentation of a unified approach to these topics ?

Part of the book series: Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research (CHIR, volume 6)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Kenneth C. Land
    Pages 1-12

  3. Conceptual and Methodological Foundations of the Child and Youth Well-Being Index

    • Kenneth C. Land, Vicki L. Lamb, Sarah Meadows
    Pages 13-27

  4. The CWI and Its Components: Empirical Studies and Findings

    • Kenneth C. Land, Vicki L. Lamb, Sarah Meadows, Hui Zheng, Qiang Fu
    Pages 29-75

  5. Measuring Social Disparities via the CWI: Race-Ethnicity, Income, and Immigrant Status

    • Donald J. Hernandez, Suzanne Macartney, Wendy Cervantes
    Pages 77-120

  6. Perceived Quality of Life Research on Children and Youth: Implications for a System of National Indicators

    • E. Scott Huebner, Susan P. Antaramian, Ashley Lewis Heffner
    Pages 121-141

  7. Issues in Composite Index Construction

    • Michael R. Hagerty, Kenneth C. Land
    Pages 143-159

  8. Scalability of the CWI: State-Level Indicators and Composite Indices

    • Vicki L. Lamb, William P. O’Hare
    Pages 161-187

  9. Scalability of the CWI: Substate Regional Indicators and Composite Indices

    • Qiang Fu, Vicki L. Lamb, Kenneth C. Land
    Pages 189-224

  10. Intergenerational and Cross-National Comparisons of Child and Youth Well-Being

    • Kenneth C. Land, Vicki L. Lamb, Hui Zheng
    Pages 225-238

  11. Policy Connections and Practical Implications of the CWI

    • Megan A. Curran, Shadi Houshyar, Bruce Lesley
    Pages 239-259

  12. Conclusions and Future Directions

    • Kenneth C. Land
    Pages 261-263

  13. Back Matter

    Pages 265-269
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

In 1998, the Foundation for Child Development (FCD) provided Kenneth Land a grant to explore the feasibility of producing the first national composite index of the status of American children that would chart changes in their well-being over time. Important questions needed to be answered: was it possible to trace trends in child and youth well-being over several decades?  Could such an index provide a way of determining whether the United States was making progress in improving its children’s lives? The Index of Child and Youth Well-Being (CWI) was born from these questions.   Viewing the CWI trends from 1975 to present, there is evidence that the well-being of American children lags behind other Western nations. As conditions change, it is clear that the index is an evolving and rich enterprise. This volume attests to that evolution, and what the CWI promises for understanding the progress – or lack of progress – in enhancing the life prospects of all American children.  ​

Reviews

From the reviews:

“Chapters are devoted to describing the construction, testing, and use of the instruments; reporting the decades-long results; and discussing how the results could, or should, be used to remedy some of the state and local discrepancies in the well-being of children. … The book will be of particular value to policy makers but will also be of interest to those who wish to have a better understanding of the overall well-being of children and youths in this country.” (David Elkind, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 58 (5), January, 2013)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Dept. Sociology, Duke University, Durham, USA

    Kenneth C. Land

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation