Kathryn Kraft et al. on Children, Religion, and Development

Kathryn Kraft (ed.), Children, Religion and Development: Perspectives on Spirituality and Practice, Routledge Studies in Religion (London: Routledge, 2026).

Many thanks to Tim Davy for drawing attention to the above open access volume, to which he has contributed a chapter.

Here is the abstract of the book:

‘Drawing from teachings and practices of diverse and distinct religious traditions, this volume takes a unique approach to exploring spiritual aspects of child development which may apply universally to children of all backgrounds. Research with children demonstrates how spirituality is a universal trait, an innate aspect of humanity, which may be and indeed often is nurtured within religious traditions. Though spirituality is not inherently religious in nature, its connection to religion has proven near impossible for scholars to sever. Nonetheless, spirituality is an integral aspect of human development with universal relevance. Child spirituality has been linked to aspects of well-being including prosocial coping skills, avoidance of risky behaviours, confidence-building, forging of meaningful affective ties, development of generosity, mental health and psychosocial well-being. While each chapter brings a unique religious perspective, it offers insight, case studies and practical applications that help nurture children’s development regardless of the child’s own religious tradition – in other words, the starting point is religion but the ending point is a shared vision for the well-being of children. With contributions from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Ghana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UK, Australia, Canada and the USA, this book will be of particular interest to scholars of religion, theology, development studies and humanitarian studies.’

The book can be downloaded as a pdf or an epub from here.

The Good Childhood Report

The Children’s Society recently published ‘The Good Childhood Report’ for 2023.

Their key findings are as follows:

• Almost a third of the children aged 10 to 17 who completed our annual survey this year were unhappy with at least one of the ten specific areas of their lives that we ask about.

• The majority (74%) of children who completed our annual survey felt positive about their own futures, but less than four in ten felt positive about the future of the country and the world.

• More children (aged 10 to 17) who completed our annual survey were unhappy with school (14.5%), a larger proportion than for the other nine aspects of life included in the Good Childhood Index.

• Children aged 10 to 17 who completed our annual survey who worried about how much money their family had were more likely to be unhappy than those without financial worries with all the different aspects of life that they were asked about, and particularly with their home, money and things they own, and the amount of choice they have.

• When asked about a list of seven issues relevant for the future, having enough money was the item that more children and young people worried about, followed by finding a job and getting good grades at school.

• When asked about a set of nine societal issues, rising prices was the top worry among children completing the survey this year, followed by the environment.

More information is available here, the full report is available as a pdf here, a summary with recommendations is available as a pdf here, and a youth summary is available as a pdf here.