Overview of Micro Level Indices of Child Wellbeing

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Overview of Micro Level Indices of Child
Well-being
Kristin Anderson Moore, Ph.D.
Presented at the ISCI inaugural conference June
27, 2007
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THE CONUNDRUM

• The U.S. is awash with data about children
• Extensive, though not complete, information is
  available about child well-being
• Information is too confusing and complex to
  capture the publics attention
• Data could be boiled down to a single index
• Can this be done in a meaningful way?
• If so, how?
• What are the costs and benefits?

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CREATING AN INDEX ADVANTAGES

• Easy to understand
• Attracts attention
• Could be included in State of the Nation
  reports
• Reflects whole child perspective
• Allows for easy subgroup contrasts

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CREATING AN INDEX CHALLENGES

• What domains are included?
• What measures represent those domains?
• What about gaps in the data?
• How are the items weighted?
• Averaging effect of an index when indicators are
  moving in different directions
• Sensitivity of an index to the items that are
  included
• Should it be a macro or micro index?

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MACRO DATA versus MICRO DATA

• Most indices developed as indicators to date are
  based on macro data
• Macro data functions at the population level
• Micro data functions at the level of the
  individual
• If data are representative, we can and do
  estimate macro-level statistics using micro data
• However, unlike macro data, micro data can be
  linked with individual background
  characteristics, and with other objective and
  subjective data
• The macro approach is particularly sensitive to
  the variables included, especially low-frequency
  items

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Papers Using Micro-Level Indices of Child
Well-Being

• Indices of Child Well-Being Based on the National
  Survey of Americas Families
• Sharon Vandivere and Kristin Anderson Moore,
  Child Trends, USA
• An Index of Child Well-Being Based on the
  National Survey of Childrens Health
• Laura Lippman, Kristin Anderson Moore, and Sharon
  Vandivere, Child Trends, USA
• The Americas Promise Index
• Peter Scales and Peter Benson, Search Institute
  Kristin Anderson Moore, Laura Lippman, Brett
  Brown, Child Trends, USA

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Research in the Service of Americas
Children www.childtrends.org www.childtrendsdatab
ank.org