Children’s perspectives on child well-being : a pathway to sustainable futures

Abstract

Child well-being, which refers to aspects such as children’s physical, cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual and environmental well-being, is important for their current development and future outcomes. Children’s well-being is influenced by the economic, social and environmental contexts in which they live. In South Africa, these contexts are often characterised by problems such as poverty, poor nutrition, incomplete families, poor educational outcomes, exposure to crime, and unsafe and unclean neighbourhoods. Children’s well-being is important for enhancing sustainable futures, which has led to it being a topic that is rapidly growing in research. As most studies on child well-being explored adults’ perspectives, the goal of this study, which formed part of a group research project, was to explore children’s perspectives on the topic. Following an interpretivist design, a qualitative research approach and instrumental case study design were relevant to provide children with the opportunity to have their voices heard and share their perceptions of child well-being. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with the use of an interview schedule and visual communication cards were used to collect data from 10 participants between the ages of eight and twelve years, recruited through purpose and snowball sampling from a study population in Pretoria North, Gauteng. The theoretical framework of the study – the ecological systems theory – was relevant for understanding different factors in children’s social environment that can influence their well-being. The findings suggest that children perceive their own well-being as being happy, loved and cared for, and as state that is influenced by relationships with those close to them (especially those being part of their microsystem), adequate material and community resources, and a positive living environment. The participants believed that both children and adults, especially parents, could support children’s well-being. It is concluded that social workers can play a central role to advocate for children’s well-being and provide services on all ecological levels to enhance sustainable futures for children. It is recommended that children participate in programmes as well as in future research to make services relevant to their needs.