Browsing by Author "Fernandes, Liliana"
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- Assessing child well-being through a new multidimensional child-based weighting scheme index: an empirical estimation for PortugalPublication . Fernandes, Liliana; Mendes, Américo; Teixeira, AuroraAssessing child well-being through composite summary indexes is one of the most recent developments regarding child well-being measurement. Using a new index that takes into account the children's own perspectives, this paper presents empirical evidence on the main determinants of overall child wellbeing. Econometric estimations, based on a sample of 1246 children enrolled in the 3rd-6th grades of schools located in the Northern region of Portugal, convey two main results: (1) the parents' educational background and professional status, in particular, an unemployed father, are the most important factors affecting child well-being and (2) children from households with double or foreign nationality are worse off than those with Portuguese nationality. These results support the positive role of policies targeting the qualifications and employment opportunities for parents, as well as the need for inclusive policies for immigrant households as a way to improve their children's well-being.
- The economics of human development, the new (old) ‘witches’, and the government of social reproductionPublication . Fernandes, LilianaThis paper argues that the Economics of Human Development, advanced by Chicago School economist James J. Heckman and presented as a strategy for social investment in disadvantaged children, can be interpreted as an instrument for the government of social reproduction. The paper asserts that the Economics of Human Development is mostly concerned with the reproduction of a quality workforce. It further contends that its underlying argument is that disadvantage is the result of inadequate parenting, especially from mothers, who have raised a generation of workers unfit to meet the demands of the market and imposing costs on society. It is also argued that the resulting social policy proposal is intended to conform children’s and mother’s behaviour to the needs of the capitalist accumulation system.
- Findings from the First Wave of the ISCWeB Project: International Perspectives on Child Subjective Well-BeingPublication . Dinisman, Tamar; Fernandes, Liliana; Main, Gill
- Pobreza infantil na eurorrexión Galicia - Norte de PortugalPublication . Corbelle Cacabelos, Fernando; Fernandes, Liliana; Troitiño Cobas, AngelaÉ de especial relevancia para unha sociedade, e máis a raíz da crise económica na que están sumidas as sociedades española e portuguesa, coñecer cales son os colectivos máis débiles ou vulnerables ante a mesma. Un dos colectivos que máis protección necesita é o dos máis novos (infancia/adolescencia). Coñecer a situación e as características da poboación infantil/xuvenil é clave para chamar a atención sobre a gravidade da situación e reclamar das autoridades que correspondan a necesaria actuación. O obxectivo da estadía sería realizar unha análise do benestar e/ou pobreza infantil na Eurorrexión Galiza – Norte de Portugal explorando as principais metodoloxías existentes e realizando unha análise empírica desta problemática a través dos microdatos dispoñibles. Ademais, tamén poderemos obter os perfís dos fogares (tipoloxía do fogar, nivel de estudos dos pais, etc.) nos que os máis novos se atopan en maior situación de vulnerabilidade e risco de exclusión social. Tamén cabe a posibilidade de extraer conclusións acerca das diferenzas/similitudes do benestar infantil nas dúas rexións que forman a Eurorexión Galiza-Norte de Portugal.
- A review essay on child well-being measurement: uncovering the paths for future researchPublication . Fernandes, Liliana; Mendes, Américo; Teixeira, AuroraThe research on indicators on the state of child well-being is a growing field and one that has experienced several changes through time. Due to the growing supply of data on children, and in order to facilitate conclusions and tracking trends, researchers have been led to develop child well-being summary indexes. Several proposals have already been presented. In the present work, we critically review the most prominent summary child well-being indexes recently constructed, the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, the Child Well-being Index for the European Union, the Microdata Child Well-Being Index, and the Deprivation Index. The examination is carried out according to the contributions and innovations the indexes have brought to the field. A critical assessment of the methods used in the construction of the indexes is made and their main limitations identified. Accordingly, some future lines of research to improve child well-being measurement through summary indexes are put forward.
- A review essay on the measurement of child well-beingPublication . Fernandes, Liliana; Mendes, Américo; Teixeira, Aurora A. C.Research on indicators related to the state of child well-being is a growing field that has experienced several changes over time. The growing supply of data on children, as well as the need to facilitate conclusions and to track trends, has led researchers to develop a number of child well-being indexes. This paper critically reviews the most recent and relevant child well-being indexes, i. e., the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, the Child Well-being Index for the European Union, the Microdata Child Well-being Index, and the Deprivation Index. The study focuses primarily on the contributions and innovations the indexes have brought to the field, making a critical assessment of the methods used in the construction of the indexes and identifying their main limitations.
- The economics of human development: ‘investing in children’ or ‘children as an investment’? And why it mattersPublication . Fernandes, LilianaTraditional Human Capital Theory (HCT) views ‘children as an investment’ and is concerned with how children can be turned into productive members of society. The Economics of Human Development (EHD) grew out of the HCT but positions itself closer to the Capability Approach (CA), where ‘investing in children’ means a social commitment to children's human development. The purpose of this article is to critically analyse the EHD and its actual positioning. It concludes that the EHD's approach is essentially the same as that of the HCT, paying attention to children insofar as they are the future adult workforce. Although having appropriated the terminology of the CA, the EHD reduces social problems to economic problems, ultimately promoting a social policy that puts economic returns ahead of human development.
- A weighted multidimensional index of child well-being which incorporates children’s individual perceptionsPublication . Fernandes, Liliana; Mendes, Américo; Teixeira, AuroraIt has been a decade since a landmark piece of work on child well-being measurement based on a summary index was developed in the United States, the Index of Child and Youth Well-Being. Several research studies, both in the U.S. and Europe, followed on from this work. Despite these studies' valuable contribution, scope exists for further improvements at the methodological level. In the present paper we draw the methodological basis for a new, micro-based summary child well-being index in which children's views on their own well-being assume a central role and distinct weights (based on the children's perceptions) to each component that is included in the index are used. Based on 914 pairs of responses of Portuguese children and their carers, the newly proposed index was tested vis-A -vis other methodologies. The econometric estimations show that the significance of all potential well-being determinants (e.g., age, school cycle, mother's and father's level of education) remains the same across the distinct methods of calculation of child well-being indexes. However, the consideration of subjective components (degrees of importance and weights) allowed to evidence that the most relevant determinants of child well-being are the set of variables related to the child's parents, namely education and professional status. In particular, when compared to their counterparts, children whose fathers have higher education degrees reveal an increased overall well-being by around 25 %, whereas children whose fathers are unemployed present a decreased well-being by around 11 %.