Child Well-Being: We’re Number 36

In 1988, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) created a research center to support its advocacy of children worldwide. Its Office of Research-Innocenti, based in Florence, Italy, has compiled annual Report Cards on the status of children and their well-being in advanced countries.

For the Sixteenth Report Card (2020), out of thirty-eight countries examined, the United States came in thirty-sixth, ahead of only Bulgaria and Chile. Using data from the OECD, the World Bank, Global Burden of Disease Study, World Health Organization, PISA, and other data measurements, the Report Card focuses on three overall dimensions: mental well-being (both positive and negative aspects of a child’s mental well-being—life satisfaction and suicide rates); physical health (rates of overweight and child mortality); and skills (academic proficiency and social skills, such as making friends easily).

Source: “Worlds of Influence: Understand What Shapes Child Well-Being in Rich Countries,” Innocenti Report Card 16, UNICEF, 2020; written by Anna Gromada, Gwyther Rees, and Yekaterina Chzhen, https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/Report-Card-16-Worlds-of-Influence-child-wellbeing.pdf.