Background to survey

The Centre for the Study of the Child the Family and the Law, in collaboration with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in Vienna, have been commissioned by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency to develop a series of indicators to monitor the impact of EU activity (both legal and non-legal) on children’s rights and welfare.

Indicators are essentially statements, made on the basis of available statistical and qualitative information, that can be used to describe situations and to measure changes or trends over a period of time. A common example of an indicator relates to child poverty, for example, ‘The Proportion of children living in workless households’ or ‘The Percent of children under 16 living in households with equivalent income less than 60% of the median.’   

We are aware that an expansive body of work has already been carried out in the field of human rights indicators more generally, and that an impressive body of expertise has emerged more recently in relation to children’s rights indicators at both international and national level. A number of commentators, however, have criticised the relevance and effectiveness of such indicators in measuring the situation of children living across diverse cultural and social contexts.

Our aim is to develop a set of indicators that could be applied in the specific context of the EU to reflect the EU’s growing commitment to children’s rights issues. The indicators will then be used to scrutinise legal, judicial and policy measures affecting children across a range of areas and at various levels: within the EU institutions themselves, at national governmental level, and at grassroots level across the EU Member States. They would include, amongst others, the effect of measures on children’s health, economic situation, education, participation, living conditions and the enjoyment of civil and political rights.

We are eager to learn from those with experience of either applying, campaigning for or monitoring children’s rights, either through directly working with children and young people, or through their work with statutory or non-governmental organisations. We would be very grateful, therefore, if you could respond to the following survey drawing on your expertise. These responses will then inform the development of some preliminary indicators across a range of key areas of activity in which the EU is currently engaged, including cross-national family breakdown, poverty and social exclusion, and child protection.