Corona pandemic exacerbates children’s problems, UNICEF study finds

The playground just around the corner. Loving parents who have the time and understanding. A teacher who designs lessons creatively, friends who support him, important ingredients for a happy childhood. And it is often not a matter of course. Even in wealthy industrialized nations, there are too many children who are unhappy, according to a new report from UNICEF.

For the study “Spheres of Influence: What Shapes the Well-being of Children in Rich Countries,” the scientists evaluated data from 41 OECD and European Union countries on children’s physical and mental health and abilities. social conditions in school and associated social framework conditions.

The results in detail

Mental health:

• In Turkey, only about half (53 percent) of all 15-year-olds are satisfied with their lives. Behind are Japan and Great Britain. In Germany, three-quarters of girls and boys have a high level of satisfaction with life. And in the Netherlands it is even 90 percent.

• Children who have little support from their families or who are not included in decisions about games and leisure activities or about school are mentally worse off. According to the study, children in Romania, Estonia, Norway, Poland, Israel and Malta (each more than 60 percent) have a voice. In Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, on the other hand, less than half of the children can participate in decisions.

• Peer bullying remains a serious problem. It has long-lasting negative effects on human relationships and health.

Physical Health:

• According to Unicef, the proportion of children with obesity and overweight has increased in recent years. In ten of the countries studied, more than a third of all children are obese or overweight. This is a major problem, especially in the United States (42 percent), New Zealand (39 percent), Greece, Malta, and Italy (37 percent each). In Germany the proportion is 27 percent, in Japan 14 percent.

Social and intellectual skills:

• About 40 percent of all children in the EU and OECD countries lack basic reading and numeracy skills by the age of 15, according to the UNICEF report. By comparison, the youth in Bulgaria, Romania and Chile are the worst. Girls and boys from Estonia, Ireland and Finland get the best scores.

• In most countries, one in five children has little confidence in their social ability to make new friends. Children in Chile, Japan, and Iceland are the least trusting of this. In Germany, by contrast, almost three-quarters (72 percent) of girls and boys say they find it easy to make friends.

Economic resources:

• In almost half of the countries studied, 20 percent of all children live in relative poverty. In Turkey, Romania and Israel it is more than 30 percent. In many countries, the poorest children are at a higher risk of developing depression and obesity.

Internet use:

• The time children ages 9-16 are spending on the Internet is growing rapidly. In the United States, nearly half of teens (45 percent) are almost always connected to the Internet. Three years ago that was just under a quarter (24 percent).

• In eleven European countries, children and young people use the Internet almost twice as much as nine years ago. While they spent an hour and a half a day on the internet in 2010, it was already three hours in 2018/19. The biggest change occurred in Norway. In 2018/19, children and young people used the Internet for more than three and a half hours a day. In 2010 it was two hours.

According to scientists, the problems of children and adolescents could be exacerbated by the corona pandemic. School closings, strict exit restrictions or loss of family members have put enormous pressure on children. With economic output declining in almost all the countries examined, child poverty could also increase.