Parents are always looking for ways to enrich the lives of their children. From putting a roof over their heads to ensuring that they receive a good education and enrolling them in extracurricular activities, raising kids can take a lot of work. But are there certain countries around the world where children are happier than others? What are the best countries for kids to grow up in?
The team at AAA State of Play looked at data from UNICEF to visualize where in the world children are most satisfied with their lives based on a number of factors.
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Which Country’s Children Are the Most Satisfied With Life?
The UNICEF study looked at many different statistics, including mental well-being (life satisfaction and adolescent suicide rate), physical health (child mortality rate and percentage of overweight children), and skills (academic proficiency and social skills), and they determined that the top country was the Netherlands. This country ranks first for mental well-being, ninth for physical health, and third for skills. Parents in the Netherlands are known to have a loving parenting style with clear boundaries and lots of warmth, which likely contributes to the life satisfaction of children in the country.
The country that comes in second when ranking countries by the happiness of children is Denmark, which ranks fifth for mental well-being, fourth for physical health, and seventh for social skills. Danish parents are also known for their clear and honest parenting skills as well as letting their kids have child-led playtime outdoors at parks and playground structures.
Third on the list is Norway. The country ranks 11th for mental well-being, eighth for physical health, and first for social skills. Norwegian parenting commonly involves independent play where children can build their confidence and skills.
European countries dominate the higher end of the list, with 19 of the top 20 countries on the list located in Europe. Japan rounds out the top of the list at number 20.
These are top five happiest countries for kids in terms of life satisfaction:
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Finland
Coming in low on the list is the United States, which ranks 36th out of the 38 countries included in the study. The U.S. came in 32nd for mental well-being, 38th for physical health, and 32nd for social skills.
UNICEFs study does not include all countries in the world, instead focusing on high-income countries. The study only included countries where data is available that’s recent enough to be relevant for rankings. A full methodology of their study and basis for the rankings can be found here.
What Else Makes a Child Satisfied With Life?
Several other factors weren’t formally included in the rankings but were also included in the report to provide a snapshot of childhood satisfaction in many of the high-income countries around the world.
Percentage of Adolescents Ages 11, 13, and 15 Who Say They Are Too Fat
- Poland: 28%
- Germany: 36%
- Austria: 34%
- Latvia & Estonia: 33%
Percentage of Adolescents Ages 11, 13, and 15 Who Say They Are Too Thin
- Greece: 27%
- Czechia & Israel: 23%
- Estonia: 21%
- Slovakia: 20%
Mean Happiness Score of Children Who Played Outside Rarely vs. Daily (Based on a Score of 0-10 From Least to Most Happy)
- Wales
- Daily: 9.0
- Rarely: 7.0
- Daily: 9:4
- Rarely: 7.5
- Daily: 9.1
- Rarely: 7.6
- Daily: 9.0
- Rarely: 7.6
- Daily: 9.3
- Rarely: 7.8
Where Kids Are Most Satisfied With Their Lives
The following are the statistics and rankings that were included in UNICEF’s study.
Overall Rankings
Rank
Country
Mental Well-Being Ranking
Physical Health Ranking
Social Skills Ranking
1
Netherlands
1
9
3
2
Denmark
5
4
7
3
Norway
11
8
1
4
Switzerland
13
3
12
5
Finland
12
6
9
6
Spain
3
23
4
7
France
7
18
5
8
Belgium
17
7
8
9
Slovenia
23
11
2
10
Sweden
22
5
14
11
Croatia
10
25
10
12
Ireland
26
17
6
13
Luxembourg
19
2
28
14
Germany
16
10
21
15
Hungary
15
21
13
16
Austria
21
12
17
17
Portugal
6
26
20
18
Cyprus
2
29
24
19
Italy
9
31
15
20
Japan
37
1
27
21
South Korea
34
13
11
22
Czechia
24
14
22
23
Estonia
33
15
16
24
Iceland
20
16
34
25
Romania
4
34
30
26
Slovakia
14
27
36
27
United Kingdom
29
19
26
28
Latvia
25
24
29
29
Greece
8
35
31
30
Canada
31
30
18
31
Poland
30
22
25
32
Australia
35
28
19
33
Lithuania
36
20
33
34
Malta
28
32
35
35
New Zealand
38
33
23
36
United States
32
38
32
37
Bulgaria
18
37
37
38
Chile
27
36
38
Countries With the Highest Childhood Life Satisfaction
Rank
Country
Percentage of Children With High Life Satisfaction at Age 15
1
Netherlands
90
2
Mexico
86
3
Romania
85
4
Finland
84
5
Croatia
82
5
Switzerland
82
5
Spain
82
5
Lithuania
82
9
Iceland
81
10
France
80
Countries With the Lowest Adolescent Suicide Rate
Rank
Country
Suicide Rate per 100,000 Adolescents Ages 15 to 19
1
Greece
1.4
2
Portugal
2.1
3
Israel
2.2
4
Cyprus
2.4
4
Turkey
2.4
6
Italy
2.5
7
Spain
2.6
8
France
3.4
9
Denmark
3.6
10
United Kingdom
3.7
Countries With the Lowest Childhood Mortality Rate
Rank
Country
Mortality Rate per 1,000 Children Ages 5 to 14
1
Luxembourg
0.36
2
Denmark
0.50
3
Finland
0.60
4
Norway
0.63
5
Ireland
0.64
6
Switzerland
0.66
7
Spain
0.71
8
Germany
0.72
9
Japan
0.73
9
Italy
0.73
Countries With the Lowest Percentage of Childhood Obesity
Rank
Country
Percentage of Young People Ages 5 to 19 Who Were Overweight or Obese
1
Japan
14
2
Estonia
20
3
Lithuania
21
4
Switzerland
22
5
Slovakia
23
6
Sweden
24
6
Belgium
24
8
Romania
25
8
Netherlands
25
8
Denmark
25
Countries With the Highest Childhood Academic Proficiency
Rank
Country
Percentage of 15-Year-Olds With Basic Proficiency in Reading and Mathematics
1
Estonia
79
2
Ireland
78
2
Finland
78
4
Slovenia
75
5
Japan
73
5
Germany
73
7
Poland
72
8
South Korea
70
9
Denmark
69
9
Czechia
69
9
Denmark
69
Countries With the Highest Rate of Childhood Social Skills
Rank
Country
Percentage of 15-Year-Olds Who Make Friends Easily
1
Romania
83
2
Norway
82
2
Croatia
82
4
Netherlands
81
4
Spain
81
4
France
81
4
Cyprus
81
8
Italy
79
8
Belgium
79
8
Hungary
79
8
Denmark
79
8
Slovenia
79
8
Switzerland
79
Find more about the author: Kim Hart
