From snapshots to complex continuity: Making sense of the multifaceted concept of child well-being

Abstract

Understanding children’s well-being entails relating the multifaceted perspective of well-being to the characteristics of modern childhood. The article identifies four basic perspectives in research on child well-being: objective, subjective, developmental and eudemonic well-being. While studies often focus well-being as a state, children are passing through multiple domains during childhood, domains changing faster than ever before, underlining the need to study child well-being as a complex continuity. As research on child well-being is being transformed into policies, there is a need for a deeper understanding of its dynamics and dimensions.