By Brenda Masilela
Pretoria - A report by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has revealed that children in the world’s richest countries lack basic maths and reading skills and suffer from poor mental well-being and obesity.
The report ranks 41 European Union and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries on children’s health, skills and happiness.
Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway top the table, while Bulgaria, Chile and the US are ranked the worst places to be a child among high-income countries.
According to Unicef, around 20 percent of children do not have high life satisfaction in most affluent countries.
Turkey fares worst, with only 53 percent of children having high life satisfaction, followed by Japan and Britain.
Lithuania has the highest rate of adolescent suicide, followed by New Zealand and Estonia.
In terms of physical health, around one in three children are obese or overweight, with rates in southern Europe sharply rising.
About 40 percent of children in rich countries lack basic reading and maths skills by age 15, with those in Bulgaria, Romania and Chile the least proficient, Unicef said.
While the report used data from before the coronavirus pandemic, it warned that the crisis posed a substantial threat to child well-being.
“Many of the world’s richest countries – which have the resources they need to provide good childhoods for all – are failing children,” Unicef Innocenti director Gunilla Olsson said.
“Unless governments take rapid and decisive action to protect child well-being as part of their pandemic responses, we can continue to expect soaring child poverty rates, deteriorating mental and physical health, and a deepening skill divide among children,” Olsson added.
The report also contains data on clear areas of progress in child well-being. On average, 95 percent of preschool-aged children are now enrolled in organised learning programmes, and the number of young people aged 15 to 19 not in education, employment or training has declined in 30 out of 37 countries.
Countries are also ranked based on their policies that support child well-being and other factors, including the economy, society and environment. Norway, Iceland and Finland have the highest-ranking policies and context to support child well-being.
“In times of crisis and calm, families need supportive governments and workplaces in order to raise the next generation of happy and healthy citizens,” said Fayaz King, deputy executive director at Unicef.
“An investment in children is a direct investment in our future," said King.
- African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher