Restore some perspective to national picture of childhood

Surrounded by the museum’s stunning collection – from Punch and Judy puppets to video games – we were reminded that in terms of institutions vital to children’s lives, we were not alone in celebrating our golden jubilee: both the Sindy doll and Doctor Who also share our birth year.

During the debate, historian Dr Hugh Cunningham, author of The Invention of Childhood, noted that broadly speaking there are two recent narratives about children’s lives in Britain. The first, which prevailed from the 1800s until just after World War II, was that the quality of children’s lives was progressing. With advances in child mortality, education and immunisation, there were many notable milestones of progress. However, more recently the narrative has shifted. Now there is a more negative focus that includes concerns about falling educational standards, children at risk of exploitation and harm, child obesity, gang culture, teenage pregnancy and “feral” young people rioting on the streets. The panellists challenged us to be vigilant that our perspectives remain balanced and rational amid the swirl of stories about children circulating in popular culture.

The tensions in retaining this balance were illustrated with the recent publication of the Unicef “report card” of child wellbeing. This pulls together data on 26 internationally comparable indicators ranging from financial wealth to indulging in risky behaviours, such as smoking. The data is sorted into a league table of child wellbeing across 29 of the world’s most advanced economies. This year’s report card showed the UK has improved in many areas, rising from last position in 2000/01 to a mid-table position in 2009/10. However, we are still lagging behind in some significant aspects.

How should we interpret this information and present a balanced picture of our children’s lives?

The report card provides a useful prompt to celebrate what is going well, but it also identifies areas of children and young people’s lives where we could, and arguably should, raise our aspirations. However, an article in The Times headlined “Enough shrill claims from Unicef, thank you” rounded on the report card, dismissing it as another example of the “misery” put about by doom-mongering organisations with a vested interest in denigrating the state of childhood. The article did not dwell on the media’s own role in perpetuating this bleak viewpoint, but it did provide a challenging reflection of the children’s sector agenda. At a time when statutory funding to children’s charities in England is predicted to shrink by £405m in the five years up to March 2016, there is considerable pressure on us to emphasise what needs fixing in children’s lives, preferably in terms easily digested by a media disinterested in more nuanced stories.

How can we retain our credibility as advocates for children’s needs while sidestepping lazy stereotypes about children? First, we must have robust evidence that is widely understood and well used. Another of our panellists, Professor Terence Stephenson, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, pointed out that the dramatic reduction in cot deaths over the past 20 years has been made simply by acting on the evidence. Scientific research established a clear link with certain behaviours – smoking near infants, for example. Campaigns have successfully encouraged parents to change their ways, and children’s lives are being saved.

The importance of taking an evidence-based perspective cannot be overestimated. One of NCB’s first achievements was setting up the National Child Development Study, which followed 17,000 babies born in one week in March 1958. The study is now hosted by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies and continues to be used by social researchers with a further survey of the cohort, now aged 55, planned for this year.

Alongside research evidence, the young people on our debate panel reminded us of the importance of paying attention to the experiences, opinions and voices of children and young people themselves; and to support children to express the range of their views so that we don’t only register those that easily fit into our adult agendas. Of course, the participation of children is taken seriously across much of the sector, from international studies to local initiatives. Much to its credit, the Unicef report card compares the data collected on children’s wellbeing with what young people themselves say about life satisfaction.

So both the report card and our debate illustrate the need to ensure we have a balanced picture of childhood – to celebrate progress and success and also, crucially, to target where there are inequalities that stop children from flourishing and being happy.

Hilary Emery is chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau