A comparative analysis of life satisfaction of the children in the age of 8-13 who benefit and do not benefit from social and economic support service: Biga sample

The primary duty of the state is to provide the services needed by its citizens and to protect them. Children in need of protection, being at risk, particularly require attention from the state. The state, in turn, offers various solutions for these children through social service models. One of these solutions is Social and Economic Support (SES) services. It has been observed in the literature that there is limited research on those benefiting from SES services, no comparative studies exist, and studies on life satisfaction in Turkish literature generally focus on adults and students, revealing a gap in the literature regarding childhood life satisfaction. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between childhood life satisfaction and different socio-demographic characteristics, based on research questions such as 'the child's socio-demographic characteristics', 'the child's family socio-demographic characteristics', and 'the utilization of SES services'. Furthermore, this research holds significance as it contributes to the literature by focusing not only on student status but also on other socio-demographic characteristics when predicting a child's life satisfaction. The research was conducted using the relational survey type of the general screening model in quantitative research. Research data was collected through the Children's Life Satisfaction Scale (CLSS) and the Family Information Form and evaluated using Independent Group T test and Two-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). According to the research findings, it was found that the level of childhood life satisfaction of children without parental loss, children whose parents are not working, children with married parents, children cared for jointly by both parents, and children not benefiting from SES services is statistically significantly higher. Additionally, as the educational level of the parents of the children benefiting from the service increases, the child's life satisfaction level also increases, while the child's life satisfaction level decreases as the educational level of the parents of the children not benefiting from the service increases.