Good Childhood Report 2020

Date: 22nd September 2020
Category: Disability, Basic Health and Welfare, Respect for the views of the child, Best interests of the child, Right to life, survival and development

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The Children’s Society’s annual Good Childhood Report outlines key trends in children’s wellbeing and seeks to understand their experiences and highlight their views. The most recent edition follows a survey of 2000 children aged 10-17 between April and June 2020.

The 2020 survey indicated that a higher proportion of children were unhappy with the choices they had in life than in previous years – this may be due in part to the fact that the survey was conducted during the height of COVID-19 restrictions. More than a third of 15-year-olds scored low on life satisfaction. In measurements including satisfaction with schools, friends and a sense of purpose the UK ranked last in a comparison of 24 European countries.  

According to Eurostat data, the UK had the largest increase in relative child poverty between 2015 and 2018. By contrast, the average levels of poverty fell across other European countries during this period. A rise in child poverty was one of the reasons alongside school pressures and fear of failure which was cited by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as contributing to low levels of life satisfaction.

• Read the Good Childhood Report here.