In this chapter I discuss two dominant approaches to thinking about and measuring the quality of life or well-being of disabled children (social indicators of living conditions compared with psychological indicators of well-being). I then present three examples of the use of social indicators to illustrate the nature and level of material and social disadvantage faced by disabled children when compared with their non-disabled peers. These examples focus on: (1) changes in the quality of life of disabled Australian children (age 0–14); (2) the quality of life of very young children in the UK who are at risk of disability; (3) the quality of life of young disabled children in Bangladesh, Macedonia, Mongolia and Thailand. I conclude by highlighting some of the pragmatic and conceptual implications of adopting one of these dominant approaches to conceptualizing the quality of life of disabled children.