UK and US come bottom of child well-being report

According to a recent report from UNICEF A League Table of Child Poverty in Rich Nations, the UK and the USA are the worst places for children out of 21 developed countries. This is shocking news for countries which are the fifth richest and the richest nation on earth respectively. What is going wrong? Have these countries identified the wrong strategies? Are their priorities focused elsewhere? It seems their gaze is not firmly fixed on social issues and the moral authority of the state, and the moral authority of society as a whole to create a palpable sense of community have withered.

David Cameron has come out to say that fatherhood needs more emphasis. He is suggesting tax breaks to encourage fathers to get more involved. How does a state force fathers to spend time with their kids? The report threw up some intriguing data. Children from really poor and deprived backgrounds do better when they go to breakfast clubs, get fed breakfast, get away from their families where the stress of the relationships and the behaviours of their parents cause detriment to them. But equally children want to spend time with their parents and crave the solidity of positive social relationships with their family and their peers.

There is clearly a re-forging of relationships that is required between the 'adult' generation and the 'child' generation, but there needs to be some work done to recreate the sense of community and solidarity amongst 'adults' to share the responsibilities of bringing up a generation. Today, there seems to be no shame in leaving your kids to it, whereas perhaps twenty, thirty or fifty years ago, taking your parental responsibilites was a social norm, and those parents that didn't had social fingers pointed at that. Perhaps what we need, rather than tax breaks and ASBOs, is for social honour and a sense of moral responsibility to be instilled once again.