What Children Need, * Jane Waldfogel, * Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2006, ISBN 0 674 02212 2, $35.00/ 22.95

Abstract

What would a children’s services system based on evidence and respect for choice look like? This lucid, well organized and carefully researched book cuts to the heart of such debates. It should be read widely and, if taken seriously, will encourage far-reaching and positive changes in practice and research in the field. Waldfogel sets out a manifesto for the development of children’s services in the USA. She starts from the core principles of respecting parental choice, promoting service quality and supporting employment. These are followed by two principles for allocating public resources: efficiency—achieving the largest possible gain for the investment made; and equity—promoting equality of opportunities and outcomes. The four main chapters take key developmental stages in turn—infants and toddlers, pre-school, school-age and adolescence—and consider what children of those ages need, how parents influence such children’s well-being and what the evidence base indicates works in terms of improving the children’s health and social, cognitive and emotional development. Greatest weight is given to evidence from controlled experiments. Policy implications are drawn in each chapter and brought together in a seven-point plan in the final chapter.