Every day the newspapers lament the problems facing our children –
broken homes, pressures to eat and drink, the stress of exams. The
same issues are discussed in every pub and at every dinner party. But
is life really more difficult for children than it was, and if so
why? And how can we make it better?

A new book comes out tomorrow which is a result of a two year
investigation by the Children's Society and draws upon the work of
the UK's leading experts in childcare and child welfare...

"A Good Childhood: Searching for Values in a Competitive Age"
http://www.Amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141039434/sunflowerheal-21
explores the main stresses and influences to which every child is
exposed – family, friends, youth culture, values, and schooling, and
makes recommendations as to how we can improve the upbringing of our
children. It tackles issues which affect every child, whatever their
background, and questions and provides solutions to the belief that
life has become so extraordinarily difficult for children in general.

The experts make 30 specific recommendations, written not from the
point of view of academics, but for the general reader – above all
for parents and teachers.

A New Paradigm
--------------------------
The book calls for "a radical shift away from the excessively individualistic
ethos which now prevails in our society, to a new culture where the constant
question is "What would we do [in this situation] if our aim was a world based
on love?"

The study on which the book is bases, found that children of single-parent
families are twice as likely to experience poor conceptual development compared
to those with married parents.

The report's recommendations include the introduction of a civil birth ceremony
and the possibility for parents to take three-years' leave, with a guaranteed
return to work.

About the Authors
---------------------
Judy Dunn is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Institute
of Psychiatry, King's College London. Her research interests are in
children's social, emotional and communicative development, studied
in their families and with their friends. She is Chair of the Good
Childhood Inquiry.

Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London
School of Economics, and author of the best-seller "Happiness:
Lessons from a New Science":
http://www.Amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141016906/sunflowerheal-21
He was founder-director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the
London School of Economics and now heads its programme on well-being.
He is also a member of the House of Lords.


Background to the Book
------------------------
The Good Childhood Inquiry was commissioned by The Children's Society
and launched in September 2006 as the UK's first independent national
inquiry into childhood. Its aims were to renew society's
understanding of modern childhood and to inform, improve and inspire
all our relationships with children.