Bristol University Press
4 Welfare across the Lifespan
Abstract
This chapter considers how welfare or advantage ought to be distributed within a single lifespan, rather than between lives. A possibility is that people can make up for a bad childhood via compensating factors in adulthood, and thus there is no need to prioritise the interests of children. Through a consideration of what are termed ‘the intrinsic goods of childhood’ I make the argument that there is a basic case for seeing the start of a person’s life as the most important life stage, because gains in childhood are by their nature longer lasting and likely to lead to further advantages later in life. This provides a powerful, though potentially outweighed, reason for thinking that justice requires devoting more attention and resources to children than is recognised by most accounts.
Abstract
This chapter considers how welfare or advantage ought to be distributed within a single lifespan, rather than between lives. A possibility is that people can make up for a bad childhood via compensating factors in adulthood, and thus there is no need to prioritise the interests of children. Through a consideration of what are termed ‘the intrinsic goods of childhood’ I make the argument that there is a basic case for seeing the start of a person’s life as the most important life stage, because gains in childhood are by their nature longer lasting and likely to lead to further advantages later in life. This provides a powerful, though potentially outweighed, reason for thinking that justice requires devoting more attention and resources to children than is recognised by most accounts.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vi
- Introduction vii
-
Children and Moral Theory
- The Aims of a Moral Theory 3
- What is a Child? 9
-
A Distributive Theory for Children
- The Currency of Children’s Justice 17
- Welfare across the Lifespan 31
- Priority, Not Equality, of Welfare 43
-
Perfectionism and Upbringing
- The Case against Neutrality 55
- Understanding Perfectionism 67
- The Implications of Perfectionism 79
-
The Rights and Duties of Parents
- The Project View of Parenting 97
- Distributing Parental Duties 111
- Perfectionism and Parenting 123
- Beyond Parents: Collective Duties to Children 135
-
Distributive Implications
- Children’s Distributive Outcomes: Equality of Opportunity? 149
- Paying for Childcare 159
- Conclusion 171
- Bibliography 175
- Index 187
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vi
- Introduction vii
-
Children and Moral Theory
- The Aims of a Moral Theory 3
- What is a Child? 9
-
A Distributive Theory for Children
- The Currency of Children’s Justice 17
- Welfare across the Lifespan 31
- Priority, Not Equality, of Welfare 43
-
Perfectionism and Upbringing
- The Case against Neutrality 55
- Understanding Perfectionism 67
- The Implications of Perfectionism 79
-
The Rights and Duties of Parents
- The Project View of Parenting 97
- Distributing Parental Duties 111
- Perfectionism and Parenting 123
- Beyond Parents: Collective Duties to Children 135
-
Distributive Implications
- Children’s Distributive Outcomes: Equality of Opportunity? 149
- Paying for Childcare 159
- Conclusion 171
- Bibliography 175
- Index 187
