Countries Where Children Are the Most Satisfied With Their Lives

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:

1. Netherlands
2. Denmark
3. Norway
4. Switzerland
5. 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

1. Poland: 28%
2. Germany: 36%
3. Austria: 34%
4. Latvia & Estonia: 33%

Percentage of Adolescents Ages 11, 13, and 15 Who Say They Are Too Thin

1. Greece: 27%
2. Czechia & Israel: 23%
3. Estonia: 21% 
4. 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)

1. Wales
• Daily: 9.0
• Rarely: 7.0
2. Poland
• Daily: 9:4
• Rarely: 7.5
3. Finland
• Daily: 9.1
• Rarely: 7.6
4. Israel
• Daily: 9.0
• Rarely: 7.6
5. Estonia
• 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