Measuring children’s well-being: the Child Flourishing and Futures Index

Overview

Global warming is worsening crises of conflict and migration of which children are primary victims – globally, half of refugees today are under age 18. Under business-as-usual scenarios, the future of all children will be compromised by rising ocean levels, increased mortality from extreme weather, proliferation of diseases like malaria and dengue, and a crisis of malnutrition.2 Children around the world are protesting to remind us, “our house is on fire.”

A global index, presented in a landmark WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission (2020), shows that, of 180 countries examined, no single country provides the conditions needed for a child to live a healthy life today and tomorrow.