Product Description

Every day the newspapers lament the problems facing our children – broken homes, pressures to eat and drink, the stress of exams. The same issues are discussed in every pub and at every dinner party. But is life really more difficult for children than it was, and if so why? And how can we make it better? This book, which is a result of a two year investigation by the Children’s Society and draws upon the work of the UK’s leading experts in many fields, explores the main stresses and influences to which every child is exposed – family, friends, youth culture, values, and schooling, and will make recommendations as to how we can improve the upbringing of our children. It tackles issues which affect every child, whatever their background, and questions and provides solutions to the belief that life has become so extraordinarily difficult for children in general. The experts make 30 specific recommendations, written not from the point of view of academics, but for the general reader – above all for parents and teachers. We expect publication to be a major event and the centre of widespread media attention.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14712 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and author of the best-selling Happiness (Penguin, 2005). He was founder-director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and now heads its programme on well-being. He is also a member of the House of Lords. Judy Dunn is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. Her research interests are in children's social, emotional and communicative development, studied in their families and with their friends. She is Chair of the Good Childhood Inquiry.

Customer Reviews

Searching for a well written book on such a well researched subject
I was eagerly awaiting my copy of this book after all the publicity about the report, but haven't got more than a third of the way through yet as it is so badly written. There seems to be no flow, just a jumble of generalisations which are left frustatingly unsubstantiated. I wanted the facts backed up with figures and an explanation of how the research led to such conclusions. Very disappointing when they were in such a good position to produce accessible yet convincing advice.

Outstanding study of what makes childhood a good experience
This is the result of an enquiry in Britain lasting 18 months and set up by The Children's Society, into the factors that make for a good childhood. Its strengths are that at every stage it backs its findings by citing evidence from studies in sociology, psychology, and education, which in many cases it critically evaluates, but at the same time illuminates with stories of individual children, and quotes from them. It concludes the importance of love, parental commitment (from both parents in harmonious relationship if at all possible), setting boundaries for the children, moral standards. as well as elements such as friends, exercise, and early education. It laments Britain's poor performance on childhood poverty and discusses its consequences. An outstanding piece of work.

A bold and challenging analysis of childhood in a consumer culture
In 2007, a UNICEF study ranked 21 developed countries and found that the UK came last for child welfare, with the US second worst. The Good Childhood Inquiry set out to find out why, and this book represents their conclusions.

On one level, it's a good time to be a child. Children in the UK enjoy good health and can look forward to long lives. They have foreign holidays, and a wealth of consumer goods. Despite the good life promised to them however, this generation of children is more stressed, more violent, and less happy than the children of the seventies or eighties. Alcohol use and teenage pregnancy are among the worst in Europe.

The report deals with some important and unpopular topics here, such as family break-up, and absent fathers, divorce, or parents who have put their careers first, as well as role of the media, and the erosion of trust.

There are lessons here for the government, town planners, teachers, and for parents. Overall however, the finger points at our whole individualistic consumer culture. And that's not so easily fixed.

The report has to return to that difficult word `values' - children need to empathise and understand the need to share, and to put others first. They need friends, teachers who believe in them, and parents who love them and love each other. In the end, love is a key word. "One major theme of this report is the need a more caring ethic and for less aggression - for, to put it bluntly, a society more based on the law of love" say the authors.

A Good Childhood is a thoroughly researched and thought provoking read, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.