An Index of Child Well-Being at a Local Level in the U.S.: The Case of North Carolina Counties

To measure child well-being, we constructed composite indices with equal weights to component indicators for four domains such as health, safety, education, and economic well-being. The overall index was also constructed in the same way with equal weights to component domains. Based on the index sco...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child indicators research 2012-03, Vol.5 (1), p.29-53
Main Authors: Hur, Yongbeom, Testerman, Robin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Babies
Child and School Psychology
Child development
Children
Children & youth
Coastal areas
Community
Counties
Early Childhood Education
Economic wellbeing
Education
Infant mortality
Policy making
Quality of life
Quality of Life Research
Rural areas
Rural communities
Social Sciences
Social Work
Teenage pregnancy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To measure child well-being, we constructed composite indices with equal weights to component indicators for four domains such as health, safety, education, and economic well-being. The overall index was also constructed in the same way with equal weights to component domains. Based on the index scores (overall and four domains), North Carolina counties were ranked. In addition, urban and rural counties as well as four physiographic regions were also compared in terms of child well-being. According to the findings in the present study, urban counties generally provide better environments for child well-being although they are not statistically different in most domains of child well-being. Among four physiographic regions, the Inner Coastal region provides a significantly lower level of child well-being than the other regions in most domains, whereas the Blue Ridge and the Outer Coastal regions provide a generally higher level of child well-being than the Piedmont and the Outer Coastal Regions in most domains. These findings would not only help citizens make a more informed decision about where to live and where to raise their children, but also provide policy makers and implementers an idea about the strengths and weaknesses in their communities and what they should do to make their communities more attractive.
ISSN:1874-897X
1874-8988
DOI:10.1007/s12187-010-9087-x