Pedianomics: The social return on investment in improving the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents

The report is a comprehensive assessment of the past 5 years of investments in the lives of 8 million young Canadians, making the case to put children first during budget planning. The report presents new data on the multi-billion dollar impact of the recent tripledemic pediatric crisis and lack of progress in improving children’s health, with a focus on the mental health crisis and the urgent need to address childhood food insecurity. The research involves a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Calgary and the University of Toronto, including the faculties of Social Work, Public Policy, Health, Education and Economics. Vivic Research, an economic consulting firm dedicated to advocating for social justice with data-driven research, partnered on the economic analysis of the social return on investment in children’s health.