Chapter 4: Monitoring the Well-Being of Canada’s Young Children

The September 2000 Early Childhood Development Agreement commits governments to report regularly on indicators of young children’s well-being. Governments have identified a common set of 11 indicators of well-being which provide information on the physical health and early development of young children in Canada.

Governments began their reporting on this common set of indicators in the fall of 2002. As the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) is a key data source for many of the indicators of child well-being, the most recent data available at that time were from 1998–1999 (cycle 3). The Well-Being of Canada’s Young Children: Government of Canada Report 2002, released on November 20, 2002, describes in detail the indicators the Government of Canada committed to monitor over time. These indicators expand upon the common set of indicators of children’s physical health and early development to include measures of key family and community influences on child well-being. The federal and provincial/territorial governments agreed to release second reports on the common set of indicators in the fall of 2003 to coincide with the release of 2000–2001 NLSCY data (cycle 4).

The information presented in Table 3 includes indicators of well-being for young children from birth to 5 years of age as well as family- and community- related measures for both 1998–1999 and 2000–2001. Explanations for how the indicators and measures based on NLSCY scales were derived can be found in Annex A.

It is important to note that, for the majority of indicators and determinants presented in Table 3, change over time will occur gradually. Significant improvements can be identified only when a large number of children are developing better than earlier cohorts. The two-year period between the data collected in 1998 and 2000 is not sufficient time for investments in families and children to achieve substantial gains. Furthermore, small changes in either direction should be interpreted with caution as they may reflect sampling variability rather than true changes. It is only when changes in the same direction are consistently observed over time that a trend may be established.

Table 3: Indicators of Child Well-Being and Family- and Community- Related Measures
(Note: Those indicators denoted with an asterisk [*] are part of the common set of indicators of young children’s well-being that all governments participating in the Early Childhood Development Agreement have agreed to report.)

Indicators of Child Well-Being
Name	Indicator (1998–1999 unless otherwise indicated)(104)	Indicator (2000–2001 unless otherwise indicated)
% of Young Children Born at a Healthy Birth Weight*	81.3% (1999)	80.6% (2000)
Pre-term Birthrate – % of Children Born at 37 weeks of Gestation or Later	92.7% (1999)	92.5% (2000)
Number of Cases of Haemophilus Influenzae-b Among Young Children*	14 (1999)	16 (2001)
Number of Cases of Meningococcal Group C Disease Among Young Children*	12 (1999)	27 (2001)
Number of Cases of Measles Among Young Children*	11 (1999)	7 (2001)
Infant Mortality Rate – Number of Deaths per 1,000 Live Births*	5.3 (1999)	5.3 (2000)
% of Young Children Who Are Being or Were Breastfed	79.9%	Data not yet available
% of Young Children Diagnosed With Asthma	9.9%	10%
Injury Hospitalization – Number of Cases Among Young Children	10,148 (1999)	9,386 (2000)
Injury Mortality Rate – Proportion of All Deaths Among Young Children that were the Result of an Injury (per 100,000)	9.3 (1999)	7.9 (2000)
% of Young Children Displaying Average to Advanced Levels of Motor and Social Development (MSD)*	86.1%	85.7%
% of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Emotional Problem–Anxiety*	86.2%	82.2%
% of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Hyperactivity–Inattention*	87.8%	84.9%
% of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Physical Aggression–Conduct Problem*	86.5%	87.4%
% of Young Children Not Displaying Behaviours Associated with Low Prosocial Behaviour*	89.8%	This information is no longer captured in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The indicator has been replaced by Personal–Social Behaviour
% of Children Displaying Age Appropriate Personal–Social Behaviour*		84%
Language Skills* – % of Children Displaying Average to Advanced Verbal Development	84.1%	82.7%
Family- and Community- Related Measures
Name	Measure (1998–1999 unless otherwise indicated)(104)	Measure (2000–2001 unless otherwise indicated)
Parental Education – % Who Had Obtained Postsecondary Education	Mothers – 45.3% Fathers – 48.7%	Mothers – 47.8% Fathers – 49.9%
Level of Income – % of All Families with Young Children Living Above the Post-Tax Low-Income Cut-Off	84.5%(1999)	87.2%(2001)
% of Parents Not Displaying Signs of Parental Depression	88.8%	89.5%
% of Mothers Who Use Tobacco During Pregnancy	19.4%	18.5%
% of Mothers Who Consume Alcohol During Pregnancy	14.5%	13.9%
Parental SmXing – % Who Do Not SmXe At All	Person Most Knowledgeable About the Child – 72.6% Spouse of the Person Most Knowledgeable about the Child – 70.4%	Person Most Knowledgeable About the Child – 74% Spouse of the Person Most Knowledgeable about the Child – 72.5%
% of Parents Indicating Positive Family Functioning Among Family Members	89.1%	88.7%
Positive Parenting – % of Parents Indicating Positive Interaction Within the Family	88%	83.9%
Reading by Adult – % of Children Who Are Read to Daily or Several Times Per Day	69.7%	66.1%
% of Parents Indicating a Sense of Neighbourhood Cohesion	84.9%	85.9%
% of Parents Indicating A Sense of Neighbourhood Safety	This measure was not captured in 1998/99	75.6%
% of Families with Children Living in Core Housing Need	Rental households – 36% Owner households – 7% (1996)	Data not yet available

As indicated in the table above, for many of the indicators presented, the situation for young children has remained constant (e.g. pre-term birth rate, infant mortality rate, and prevalence of diagnosed asthma) or improved slightly (e.g. incidence of measles, injury hospitalization, injury mortality rate, physical aggression–conduct problem, income, tobacco use during pregnancy, parental smXing and neighbourhood cohesion). However, there are noted exceptions.

Several of the indicators and determinants for which there was a significant decline between 1998–1999 and 2000–2001 (e.g. motor and social development, emotional problem–anxiety, hyperactivity–inattention, and positive parenting) are based on the NLSCY. Information in the NLSCY is derived from a series of questions asked of the Person Most Knowledgeable about the Child (PMK), which is typically the mother, concerning all selected children in the household, as well as the sociodemographic information about herself and her spouse. Slight variations in the data can most likely be attributed to the nature of survey data, as it tends to be more sensitive to subjective variation in the respondent, which in this case is the PMK, than direct assessment measures. However, there may be other potential factors that could be affecting these results. Further research is required to determine the potential causes of changes in these indicators.

It will be important to continue to track these indicators over time to determine if the fluctuations seen between 1998–1999 and 2000–2001 are the start of a discernable trend or solely a one-time occurrence. Future Government of Canada reports will continue to assess these issues as additional trend data become available.

There may be slight discrepancies apparent between some of the indicators for 1998–1999 reported in the 2002 Government of Canada report and those presented this year. Statistics Canada has a long standing policy that sample weights for surveys are calculated using the most reliable population counts available for the appropriate point in time. For intercensal years, these weights are typically based on population estimates. Once more reliable population counts become available (primarily via the Census, which is conducted every 5 years), the initial weights for the intercensal years are adjusted to reflect the final population counts. Updating the sample weights for surveys such as the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is essential to ensure consistency between Statistics Canada’s official population figures and the survey estimates.

In order to ensure comparability between the data reported for 1998–1999 and 2000–2001, all NLSCY- and SLID-based indicators for 1998/1999 are being re-reported to reflect the revised weights. For those indicators based on the NLSCY, the cycle 3 (1998/1999) weight now reflects the population on January 1, 1999 according to the 2001 Census. For those indicators based on the SLID, the 2000 historical weight has been revised to population counts based on the 1996 Census.