London - Children in England are so unhappy with their lives that only South Korea ranks lower for childhood well-being, research from the Children's Society has found.
South African children are not far behind - the research suggests that seven percent in are unhappy with their life as whole.
Bullying, a lack of self-confidence and a poor body image are among the factors that pushed England into second last place in an examination ito the happiness of children.
Academics from the University of York quizzed 53 000 children aged 10 to 12 in 15 countries from around the world to compare the experiences of English children to those elsewhere.
The countries in the study were England, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Poland, Estonia, Spain, Turkey, Romania, Algeria, South Africa, Israel, Ethiopia, Colombia and Nepal.
Overall, children in England are unhappier with their school experience than those in 11 other countries, including Uganda, Ethiopia and Algeria. English schools fared better only than Germany, South Korea and Estonia.
The Independent, IOL
How happy children are with their lives as a whole (table provided by the Children's Society:
1 Romania - 1.1%
2 Colombia - 2%
3 Spain 2.4%
4 Israel 3.2%’
5 Estonia 3.4%
6 Norway 3.5%
7 Ethiopia - 3.6%
8 Algeria 4.4%
9 Germany 5%
10 Nepal 6.1%
11 Turkey 6.1%
12 Poland 6.2%’
13 - South Africa 7%
14 - England - 7.1%
15 - South Korea 9.8%