United Nations: UK/US are Worst Places to Grow Up

Not that we couldn’t have told them this 10 years ago, but today the United Nations has declared the United Kingdom the worst place to grow up, out of 21 countries in the developed world. The United States follows closely behind.

A Unicef poll of children aged 11, 13 and 15 assessed the well-being of young people in six categories: material wealth, health and safety, standard of education, relationships with family and peers, the behaviours of the young people, and their own perceptions of their personal happiness and development.

Children’s testimonials rated the Netherlands as the most positive place to grow up, followed by Sweden and Denmark. Children in the UK, the US and Hungary had the least pleasant experiences growing up.

In a country where kids can be handed an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) for such offences as wearing a hooded top, it's unsurprising that Unicef finds the UK’s children and adolescents suffering from low self-esteem, unhappiness and pessimism about the future. Kids reported having poor relationships with family and peers, with more than a third (approx 36%) saying they had been bullied within the last two months. A similar number of 15-year-olds have no aspirations beyond the lowest-skilled work, and 16% of children are currently living below the poverty line. Adolescents in the UK are likely to put themselves at risk from drugs, excessive alcohol intake and unsafe sex, with 40% of British teenagers having sex below the age of consent.

Children’s Commissioner for England, Al Aynsley-Green, has criticised the government’s ‘blame-the-kids’ response to problems in society, saying:

It is time to stop demonising children and young people for what goes wrong and start supporting them to make positive choices. To bring an end to confusing messages we give to young people about their role, responsibility and position in society, and ensure that every child feels valued and has their rights respected.

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