UK'S FIRST NATIONAL INQUIRY INTO CHILDHOOD

The Children’s Society announced yesterday that Lord Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics would chair the UK’s first national inquiry into childhood.

“The Good Childhood Inquiry, managed by The Children's Society, aims to renew society's understanding of childhood for the twenty-first century, with the charity believing that too many children in the UK are experiencing poor childhoods.

The society highlights that Recent research has revealed that while we are wealthier than fifty years ago, the well-being of children in the UK is amongst the lowest in Europe, and our young people are experiencing increasing levels of mental health problems.

Refugee children, children in trouble with the law, disabled children, and children at risk on the streets, with whom The Children's Society works on a daily basis, are among those most affected by these issues.

The Children's Society is also concerned that the current climate of fear and confusion surrounding children is clouding the way childhood is understood today. The charity argues that left unchallenged, society's contradictory attitudes towards children - on the one hand idealising them as angels and on the other demonising them as yobs -will lead to a breakdown in intergenerational relationships.”