Benefits and Limitations of Eliciting the Well-Being Views of Two-Four Year Olds Living in a Low-Income Area in England

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports findings from a small-scale qualitative study exploring the views of two - four year olds about their well-being. While interest in children’s views about their well-being has been increasing over the past couple of decades, the views of young children are under-researched, particularly those living in low-income areas. Deficit social constructions of young children and their capacities to ‘express’ (usually understood as ‘verbalise’) ‘reasoned’ (usually understood as ‘cognitive’) views have largely fuelled their exclusion. The study involved 18 young children living in one of England’s most economically disadvantaged areas. Data were generated with children by using the Mosaic Approach, comprising multiple creative methods. The findings suggest that young children conceptualise their well-being in the here-and-now; they enjoy opportunities to be social and to participate in activities and decisions that affect them. However, while it may be beneficial to young children’s sense of well-being to acknowledge their agency, and to treat their views with respect, it may be more beneficial to them to do so by also recognising their ‘mutuality of being’. In this sense, eliciting the views of young children about their well-being is not only under-researched, but under-socialised and de-historicised. The paper concludes by proposing an integrative approach to well-being, which neither privileges nor abstracts children from their social and material contexts.