The implications of social exclusion and low material resources on children's satisfaction with life domains: A study of 12Â year-olds in 13 countries

This cross-national study tests how children who live under conditions of low material resources and social exclusion fare in their views of three life domains: Home and family, Friends and relationships and Self. Addressing the limitations of income measure, especially for children, the study uses two recently developed child-centered measures for child socioeconomic disadvantage (Gross-Manos, in press), in a sample of 12 years-olds (N = 15,836) from 13 diverse countries. Performing series of logistic regressions the study analyzed the odds of children identified by these measures as disadvantaged presenting lower satisfaction across the three life domains. The findings show that children who live with these extreme disadvantages, especially both, have much lower odds of being satisfied with these life domains, especially in the Self domain. Children who were identified as socially excluded showed lower odds of being satisfied in all three life domains, and in almost all of the countries, compared to those who live under low material resources, pointing to the importance of measuring children's social exclusion in a separate way. The findings are discussed, analyzing cross-national patterns that emerge, and some implications for social policy.