Living in a rich country doesn’t guarantee happiness and this new study conducted by UNICEF proves so. Even before COVID-19 created gaps, divides and affected children’s physical and mental well-being, millions of children in the richest of countries were deprived of a good childhood. Better health and education is not universal and guaranteed, no matter how wealthy a country might be.
According to the latest research study by UNICEF, even the best performing countries have capacity and room for more improvement and growth when it’s about ensuring consistently high child well-being. In the study, the UNICEF Innocenti Report Card takes into account data from 41 countries and measured them against three significant categories: mental well-being, life satisfaction and suicide rates- physical health comprises of rates of obesity and child mortality; and skills include both academic and social skills.
Rich countries & child well-being
As the table below shows, a good past record in mental well-being makes the Netherlands rank at the top of the table, with other well-performing Nordic nations following suit. However, the hierarchy becomes disrupted when looking at children’s life satisfaction.