‘Good for Children’? Local Understandings versus Universal Prescriptions: Evidence from Three Ethiopian Communities

Abstract

Worldwide there have been many studies about understandings of well-being (reviewed in Alkire, 2002; Camfield, 2006), i.e. what constitutes and contributes to a life that people have reason to value in particular contexts.1 As we have seen in Chapters 2 and 3 of this book, concepts and even domains of well-being may vary across different contexts or according to age, which implies that children’s participation is central for understanding their capabilities. This chapter reports differences between Ethiopian children and their caregivers in expressed understandings of a good life and what is needed to achieve this. It also explores whether the capability approach can be used to bridge the gap between shared local understandings of a good life and the universal prescriptions of global bodies such as UNICEF on what is ‘good for children’. The chapter uses quantitative and qualitative data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty. These comprise group interviews and activities with a subsample of children (aged 11–13), caregivers and community informants from three urban and rural communities who explore what constitutes well-being or a good life for children in their community.2 The qualitative data are supplemented by analyses of responses from children and their caregivers to questions on their values, aspirations and experiences of subjective well-being in the second round of the Young Lives survey.3