“RUSSIAN CHILDREN WELLBEING INDEX”: IMPLEMENTATION EXPERIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Today, available data on the situation of children do not allow us to fully assess how well children live in Russia. The main directions of state policy in the sphere of childhood protection base on the data, that not always can accurately defi ne what actions will best suit the interest of each child. One of the ways to better understand children real living standard in Russia is to develop and implement Children Wellbeing Index, as an evidence-based childhood policy tool. Children Wellbeing Index is the coordinated system of descriptors for assessment of children living standards, based on the analysis of two types of data: fi rst, regularly collected offi cial statistics, and, second, the result of sociological survey of children themselves and their parents’ opinions. The report presents the experience of Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation in creating of such an Index from preliminary research of foreign Indices in - to the massive survey of   students at the age of - and their parents in  regions of Russia in . The report also covers the issues of creating and harmonizing the Index system, which includes mutual verifi cation of the questionnaire and static parts, and the ways in which the Fund plans to develop and implement the Index in the future. The last part of report reveals possibilities of using the Index in evidence- based decision-making in childhood sphere. The results are applied to develop and gather best practices in improvement of some separate elements of wellbeing at the level of regions; to create regional analytical centers; to launch an education program about interpreting and using data for regional offi cials, NGO-employees and different public representatives.