UN report on child well-being in rich countries

Click for larger version of the summary chart:

The USA and UK are bottom of the league

The United States and the United Kingdom occupy the bottom two positions in the league table. It should be noted that out of thirty member states, comparable data was only available for 21 countries. The United States was included in the summary chart despite a lack of adequate data for Subjective well-being. The criteria for Behaviours and risks (Dimension 5) include the "percentage who have been drunk more than twice." In July 2000, the son of the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was arrested for being drunk and incapable (See: BBC news report), which just goes to show that parents with money and power cannot guarantee a problem-free childhood for their sons & daughters.

Report Card 7 was prepared by UNICEF's Innocenti Research Centre in Florence. A breakdown of the criteria for each of the six dimensions is given below. The choice of indicators reflects the availability of internationally comparable data.

The PDF report contains bar charts presenting each of these results in detail (download the PDF file).

Relative income poverty

• percentage of children living in homes with equivalent incomes below 50% of the national median.

Households without jobs

• percentage of children in families without an employed adult.

Reported deprivation

• percentage of children reporting low family affluence.
• percentage of children reporting few educational resources.
• percentage of children reporting fewer than 10 books in the home.

Health at age 0-1

• number of infants dying before age 1 per 1,000 births.
• percentage of infants born with low birth weight (< 2500g).

Preventative health services

• percentage of children age 12 to 23 months immunized against measles, DPT, and polio.

Safety

• deaths from accidents and injuries per 100,000 aged 0-19.

School achievement at age 15

• average achievement in reading literacy.
• average achievement in mathematical literacy.
• average achievement in science literacy.

Beyond basics

• percentage aged 15-19 remaining in education.

The transition to employment

• percentage aged 15-19 not in education, training or employment.
• percentage of 15 year-olds expecting to find low-skilled work.

Family structure

• percentage of children living in single-parent families.
• percentage of children living in stepfamilies.

Family relationships

• percentage of children who report eating the main meal of the day with parents more than once a week.
• percentage of children who report that parents spend time 'just talking' to them.

Peer relationships

• percentage of 11, 13 and 15 year-olds who report finding their peers 'kind and helpful'.

Health behaviours

• percentage of children who eat breakfast.
• percentage who eat fruit daily.
• percentage physically active.
• percentage overweight.

Risk behaviours

• percentage of 15 year-olds who smoke.
• percentage who have been drunk more than twice.
• percentage who use cannabis.
• percentage having sex by age 15.
• percentage who use condoms.
• teenage fertility rate.

Experience of violence

• percentage of 11, 13 and 15 year olds involved in fighting in last 12 months.
• percentage reporting being bullied in last 2 months.

Health

• percentage of young people rating their own health no more than 'fair' or 'poor'.

School life

• percentage of young people 'liking school a lot'.

Personal well-being

• percentage of children rating themselves above the mid-point of a 'Life Satisfaction Scale'.
• percentage of children reporting negatively about personal wellbeing.

• Innocenti Report Card No.5:
  A league table of child mistreatment deaths in rich nations.
• Education at a Glance 2007:
  School performance league tables in the OECD.