Children and the Good Life pp 41-51 | Cite as
Childhood Welfare and the Rights of Children
Abstract
This chapter discusses social rights as children’s rights, recognized as such in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It is well known that the CRC represents an important advance on previous international advocacy instruments on children’s rights, especially regarding participation. However, provision rights have also entered the CRC, with specifications of the contents of these rights as well as the obligations of national states and parents. The chapter presents an overview of human rights as citizenship rights before analysing the dimensions of provision rights for children. Some results are reported from a study in which children were asked about their feelings and opinions on welfare in general and their expected well-being in particular. It is concluded that there is an implicit agreement conferring main responsibility for the well-being of children to their parents. As a result, the welfare situation of children depends mainly on the cultural, social and economic position of their parents—meaning that they may be as wealthy or as poor as their parents are. Although provision rights for children are recognized, national states tend to protect them only weakly.
Keywords
Social Welfare State Parti Child Labour Universal Declaration Periodic Health ExaminationReferences
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