Where the Happiest Children in the World Live

Where do the happiest children in the world live? Scientists have surveyed 50,000 children in 15 countries to better understand their satisfaction with life and their well-being.

The new survey asked children about all key aspects of their lives including their family and home life, friendships, money and possessions, school life, local area, time us, personal well-being, views on children's rights and their overall happiness.

"We are delighted to see the first report from this major new international study," said Simon Sommer, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The foundation is proud of being part of making complex research more accessible and to be one step closer to a better understanding of children's lives from their own perspectives. With innovative research projects such as this we would like to strengthen the transfer of research into practice and provide information that is valuable for political decision makers and others to improve children's lives."

The researchers found that children in European countries tend to report higher levels of satisfaction with their friendships while children in African countries tend to be happier with their school lives. In addition, children in northern European countries are particularly dissatisfied with their appearance and self-confidence.

The scientists found that the children with very high well-being varied from around 78 percent in Turkey and 77 percent in Romania and Colombia to around 40 percent in South Korea. Those with very well low-being varied from less than 2 percent in Romania and Colombia to over 7 percent in South Korea and South Africa.

"This report is the culmination of many years of work to understand more about children's views about their lives and well-being," said Asher Ben-Arieh, one of the principal investigators. "It fills a major gap in international research. Our work demonstrates that it is possible and valuable to ask children how they feel about their lives and that different children from different places share a common childhood."

The findings will be presented at the meeting of the European Parliament in Brussels.

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