The Good Childhood Report 2017 is ready to view, you can download the full report at the end of this piece but we explore the key findings and information.
Key Findings for the Good Childhood Report :
- Young people’s happiness is at its lowest since 2010.
- Fear of crime is the most common problem of all, affecting 2.2 million children.
- One million children (18%) have seven or more serious problems in their lives.
- Children facing seven or more of the 27 serious problems we asked about were 10 times more likely to be unhappy than those with none.
Latest trends over time:
This year, children and young people’s happiness is at its lowest since 2010. In last year’s report we found that a gap in happiness between boys and girls, especially as they get older, had opened up. This year, the gap has not narrowed.
Serious problems in children’s lives
This year young people were asked about a list of 27 possible problems children and their families faced in the last five years.
Some of the most common problems, like living in a family struggling to pay the bills, are leaving millions of 10 to 17 year olds more likely to feel unhappy.
While some less common problems, like not having enough emotional support at home, are hugely reducing some children’s chances of being happy.
Problems are adding up for young people
Just under a million children (16%) aged 10 to 17 don’t have any of these problems – but this is a minority of children.
A more widespread experience, affecting more than half of teenagers (53%), is having three or more serious problems to deal with.
One million children (18%) have seven or more serious problems in their lives.
When problems mount up, children are much more unhappy
The evidence clearly points to a more damaging impact on children’s well-being when problems mount up.
Children with seven or more serious problems in their lives are ten times more likely to be unhappy than those with none.
Read the Good Childhood Report 2017:
Read the full report and find out more about the work here the-good-childhood-report-2017_full-report
