Data for Children’s Well-being–Recognizing and Responding to the Invisible

Abstract

Children living in poverty often remain invisible in health research and policy, despite being within institutional support systems. This study explores how municipal administrative data can be used to better understand and support the well-being of these children, with a focus on those in public assistance households in Japan. Conventional health data, such as medical claims and surveys, often fail to capture the realities of children facing poverty due to selection bias. In contrast, public assistance data collected by municipal welfare offices̶comprising both sociodemographic records and healthcare utilization̶offers a unique opportunity to profile all eligible children. Our analyses have revealed that children born into public assistance households face greater health disadvantages. However, these children are underrepresented in existing research and policy discourse, partly due to a lack of interpretive and hermeneutical resources. We argue that multi-sectoral integration of administrative data̶linking welfare, health, education, and community services̶can help visualize these children’s situations and support evidence-based advocacy. Recognizing and responding to “invisible” children is essential for building inclusive policies that truly support child well-being.