Unpacking the complexities of child well‐being in Southeast Asia: Insights for social policy

The study builds a child well-being index using standardized Z-scores to compare how well 11 Southeast Asian countries care for children. Most countries score "less" to "moderate" on the index, while Singapore scores higher. The authors describe the region's child well-being regimes as mixing productive and protective models, with more emphasis on the productive one. They suggest the low scores may reflect a view of child well-being as a private family matter, so that children are treated as objects rather than subjects of social policy. They call for more generous welfare programs for low-income families and better education, healthcare and basic facilities.

Key points

• The body of knowledge on child well-being in Southeast Asia is described as sketchy and preliminary.
• A child well-being index was computed with standardized Z-scores for 11 Southeast Asian countries.
• Most countries show "less" to "moderate" performance; Singapore is the exception with a higher degree of child well-being.
• Countries combine productive and protective models, with more emphasis on the productive model.
• The authors call for generous welfare programs for low-income families and better quality education, healthcare and basic facilities.

Limitations

Only the abstract is available, so the indicators, data sources, country-level scores and methods are not visible. The explanation based on moral argumentation is an interpretation by the authors and not a tested cause. The abstract does not name the other countries, so the country list is limited to Singapore, the only one named.