Children’s Well-being in Times of Crisis in PIIGS Countries: The Capability Approach as a Multidimensional Approach to Deprivation

Due to the financial crisis and the subsequent economic recession, which started in 2008, five members of the European Union (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) became known as PIIGS. The substantial instability of their economies was the main reason for grouping them together. The “common framework” that these five countries shared in time of crisis stimulates interesting analyses aiming to measure and compare the living standards of children in different households across these five countries as well as a more general discussion on the social impact that the economic crisis had on this particular vulnerable sub-group of the society. In particular, our study examines children’s well-being using a multidimensional approach to deprivation through the capability approach. Indeed, the gains made through the use of the capability approach in the knowledge and measurement of well-being demonstrate its potential and encourage its application to different contexts or groups, such as children.