Child and Youth Indicators and Their Well-Being: Vital Statistics for Planning and Development

Social demographers and statisticians have focused on child and youth development indicators throughout the world for better understanding of the life-world of children and youth. Over the past few decades scholars in both developing and developed countries have drawn their attention towards those indicators which measure the changes in the lives of children and youth, especially the marginalized, physically challenged and most vulnerable, their families and communities. Sociologists, who have worked on development sector, firmly believe that the child and youth centric statistics on education and skill development, physical and mental health, play and leisure, hygiene and nutrition, care and protection, work and labour, etc, are of paramount importance for planning and development. It has also been noticed that the experience of poor and rich countries are different in this connection. With this backdrop, a session is planned to discuss various indicators under different domains of child and youth development and to examine linkages between child and youth well-being and the country-wise policy parameters. The proposed session invites papers from policymakers, implementers, NGOs, social researchers, and sociologists on existing child and youth indicators and it’s connect to their well-being status.