ABSTRACT
This research paper aims to present the results of the implementation of the C.W.-SMILE tool that recorded child well-being in the second semester of the 2020-2021 school year. This is the fifth round of this ongoing diachronic research. The C.W.-SMILE tool consists of six dimensions: home conditions (D.1), nutrition (D.2), unemployment of guardians (D.3), free healthcare (D.4), moral education (D.5), and leisure (D.6). The first three dimensions concern children's economic well-being, while the latter three dimensions determine children's non-economic well-being. Based on welfare economics, the combination of economic well-being and non-economic well-being constitutes children's general (social) well-being. Each dimension consists of Simple Indicators. The paper also presents the results of the school year as a whole, to help investigate the evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's well-being for more periods. The tool was used to measure the well-being of children in Attica, through questionnaires that were circulated in 22 public schools and three support centers of the organization 'The Smile of the Child' (25 units in total). The sample consisted of 509 children, belonging to three distinct school categories. The results of the second semester are mapped in seven clusters (relating to seven socio-economically homogenous groups of municipalities in Attica). Analysis of the results of the school year 2020-2021 was done based on the data collected from a sample of 1,623 children; in other words, it took into account the data relating to the entire samples that were surveyed in the first and second semesters. The central outcomes of all the previous rounds of the research are verified through a principal component analysis (PCA), and a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) which are employed for the fifth round. Finally, the paper suggests an action plan of social welfare based on a ChoiCo game designed for the needs of the fifth round of the C.W.-SMILE research.
ABSTRACT
This research paper aims to present the results of implementing a new multi-dimensional and cumulative tool that records child well-being, in the 2nd semester of the school year 2019-2020, which is the third round of an ongoing research. It also presents the results of the same year as a whole, in order to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of children. The tool was applied in Attica through questionnaires, addressing 22 public schools and three support centers of the organization, The Smile of the Child (25 units in total). The number of children in the sample was 560, belonging to three distinct school categories. The results of the 2nd semester were mapped out in seven clusters. The analysis of the results of the school year 2019-2020 as a whole was applied on a sample of 1,731 children; in other words, it incorporated almost the entire sample of the surveys conducted in the 1st and 2nd semesters. Finally, an action plan, based on the legal framework, focusing on mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic on child well-being is suggested. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12187-021-09910-4.