Children and young people's well-being

Politicians always make promises to help children and young people to flourish. But do they match their commitment with sound policies?

Research by nef and Action for Children reveals that we need to radically re-shape the way Government invests in the future of the UK's children and young people. The UK currently spends billions trying to deal with the social problems produced by unhappy and deprived childhoods, such as drug abuse, family breakdown, obesity, mental ill-heath and crime. nef believes that we could save money, and improve well-being, by switching to a preventative system of care services for children and young people.

Using Social Return on Investment analysis, nef calculated that investing now in preventative care services would save £486 billion over the next twenty years, even once the costs of making the switch were taken into account. If Government invests to create happy, safe and flourishing childhoods, there will be fewer social problems, and less spending on reactive services.