Beyond the numbers: How do we monitor the state of our children?

Recent years have shown a growing interest and activity in measuring and monitoring the state of children. Evidently there is a great deal of activity on this topic around the globe. In part, as a result of this increased activity the field is going through major changes and is trying to redefine the concept of children's well being and its measurements. Furthermore it is evident that the actual practice of measuring and monitoring the state of children is changing. This paper goal is too present before the reader a "state of the art" description of such efforts around the world. Based on an extensive literature review and an international network of informers more than 130 such reports were identified and analyzed. Based on the study findings a common language to be used in the field of measuring the state of children is suggested. Furthermore the paper presents an analysis of the various reports published around the world by their publisher, their framework and the concepts and themes they usually cover. Those are later used in order to present some conclusions as to the practice of measuring and monitoring the state of children and for suggesting some prospects for the future.