Peer-reviewed article
Innovations and Challenges in Surveying Child Well-Being in Italy
Daniela Cocchi, Emilio Maria Colella, Giulio Ecchia, Enrico Elefante, Francesco Giovinazzi et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5The paper reviews the state of child well-being survey data in Italy and finds that it is fragmented and mostly cross-sectional. It notes that Italy lacks longitudinal, child-centred studies, unlike other European countries where cohort studies are better established. It introduces GUIDE (Growing Up In Digital Europe), a proposed pan-European birth cohort study that would collect harmonized longitudinal data by directly surveying children and their families. Italy will run a pilot of GUIDE in 2025, adapting international survey tools to the Italian cultural context. The paper argues that better data could inform social policy in Italy and Europe.
Key points
- Child well-being data in Italy are fragmented and cross-sectional, which limits understanding of long-term outcomes.
- Data on children's own viewpoints remain underdeveloped in Italy.
- Other European countries have more established cohort studies than Italy.
- GUIDE is proposed as the first pan-European birth cohort study, giving harmonized longitudinal data on child and youth well-being.
- Italy will conduct a GUIDE pilot study in 2025, focused on adapting international survey tools to Italy's cultural context.
Limitations
Based on the abstract only, the paper describes a data-collection initiative and a planned pilot, and it does not report outcomes for children. The pre-test findings are mentioned but not detailed here.
Abstract
Abstract This paper examines the state of child well-being survey data in Italy, highlighting the lack of longitudinal, child-centred studies, discussing the importance of such data for evidence-based policymaking and comparing Italy’s situation with that of other European countries where cohort studies are more established. We emphasize the importance of high-quality, longitudinal data to inform social policy and capture the dynamic factors impacting well-being, such as economic, health, and educational conditions. Although international initiatives by organisations like UNICEF and the OECD, have advanced child well-being research, gaps remain in Italy, where data are fragmented and cross-sectional, limiting the understanding of long-term outcomes. We introduce GUIDE (Growing Up In Digital Europe), the proposed first pan-European birth cohort study, aimed at addressing this gap by providing harmonized, longitudinal data on child and youth well-being, collected by directly surveying children and their families. This would provide a novel perspective for social research in Italy, where data on children’s viewpoints remain underdeveloped. As part of this initiative, Italy will conduct a pilot study for GUIDE in 2025, with a focus on adapting international survey tools to Italy’s cultural context. We describe Italy’s pilot study for GUIDE, including pre-test findings and sampling strategies, emphasizing the project’s potential to inform social policy in Italy and across Europe. By enhancing Italy’s child well-being data, GUIDE is positioned to inform policy and intervention strategies, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the factors shaping child and youth well-being in Italy and Europe within a life-course framework.