By Catherine Manning
Programme Director, MeasureUp
Head of Impact Practice, Impact Reporting
Social Value International Trustee
"Children are not the people of tomorrow, but are people of today."
- Janusz Korczak
That quote has stayed with me throughout the development of our MeasureUp for Kids toolkit. It captures something we instinctively know but don't always reflect in how we measure social value: children's wellbeing matters now, not just as an investment in future outcomes.
Children's wellbeing is distinct from adults' in important ways. It shifts rapidly as they grow, is acutely sensitive to transitions like starting secondary school, and is shaped far more by family relationships, friendships and school experiences than the income and employment factors that tend to dominate adult wellbeing analysis. This means the way we measure and value it needs to reflect those differences.
The scale of need in the UK makes this feel increasingly urgent. Around 1 in 5 children and young people have a probable mental health disorder. Between 10 and 16% of 10–17-year-olds report persistently low wellbeing. Nearly 950,000 children were referred to CAMHS in a single year, many waiting months or receiving no support at all. Across communities, schools and public services, there are people working hard every day to address this, and many of them are being asked to evidence the value of what they do.
This is where social value practice has a gap worth addressing. The challenge isn't a lack of data about children's wellbeing - there's actually a rich evidence base. The challenge is translating that data into reliable valuations. Wellbeing valuation has largely been built on adult life satisfaction measures, which simply aren't appropriate for children under 10. Without an alternative, organisations working with younger children have often had to rely on imperfect proxies, or leave impact unquantified altogether.
That's what led us to develop MeasureUp for Kids, with generous support from Michelle Baker, Technical Director for Social Value and Stakeholder Engagement at AtkinsRéalis. Launched this month, it's the UK's first freely available children's wellbeing valuation toolkit - aligned with HM Treasury Green Book guidance and drawing on the emerging C-WELLBY methodology, alongside indirect measurement approaches for younger age groups. The toolkit includes an example estimator, impact pathway mapping worksheet, case studies from BWB Consulting and Liverpool Cathedral, and a full test and validation report documenting our assumptions transparently.
It's a starting point, not a final answer. Children's wellbeing economics is still a developing field, and we've tried to be honest about where uncertainty remains. But we hope it gives social value practitioners, charities and commissioners something practical and credible to work with - helping frontline organisations make stronger cases for the programmes that genuinely make a difference to children's lives.
It's a starting point, not a final answer. Children's wellbeing economics is still a developing field, and we've tried to be honest about where uncertainty remains. But we hope it gives social value practitioners, charities and commissioners something practical and credible to work with - helping frontline organisations make stronger cases for the programmes that genuinely make a difference to children's lives.
If you work with children and young people, or support organisations that do, the toolkit is free and available now at measure-up.org. Have a go with the example estimator, or download the action checklist to see how it might apply to your context.
