Were you happy when you were a kid? Can money buy happiness?? Well, according to a recent study conducted by UNICEF among 21 developed nations, Dutch children are the happiest on the planet. The study compared self reported happiness measures such as family involvement, number of books at home etc. and concluded that Dutch kids have the best subjective well being.
The study measured these major dimensions in Netherlands and compared it to the other 20 developed nations.
-Dutch children’s material well-being
relative income poverty
households without jobs
reported deprivation
-Dutch children’s health and safety
health at age 0-1
preventative health services
safety
-Dutch children’s educational well being
school achievement at age 15
the transition to employment
-Dutch children’s relationship
– percentage of children living in single-parent families
– percentage of children living in stepfamilies
– percentage of children who report eating the main meal of the day with parents more than once a week
– percentage of children who report that parents spend time ‘just talking’ to them
– percentage of 11, 13 and 15year-olds who report finding their peers ‘kind and helpful’
-Dutch Children’s well-being

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Helth
School life
Subjective well being

Most of the Scandinavian countries ranked in the top 10. Here’s the complete list

Dimension 1 Dimension 2 Dimension 3 Dimension 4 Dimension 5 Dimension 6

Netherlands 4.2 10 2 6 3 3 1
Sweden 5.0 1 1 5 15 1 7
Denmark 7.2 4 4 8 9 6 12
Finland 7.5 3 3 4 17 7 11
Spain 8.0 12 6 15 8 5 2
Switzerland 8.3 5 9 14 4 12 6
Norway 8.7 2 8 11 10 13 8
Italy 10.0 14 5 20 1 10 10
Ireland 10.2 19 19 7 7 4 5
Belgium 10.7 7 16 1 5 19 16
Germany 11.2 13 11 10 13 11 9
Canada 11.8 6 13 2 18 17 15
Greece 11.8 15 18 16 11 8 3
Poland 12.3 21 15 3 14 2 19
Czech Republic 12.5 11 10 9 19 9 17
France 13.0 9 7 18 12 14 18
Portugal 13.7 16 14 21 2 15 14
Austria 13.8 8 20 19 16 16 4
Hungary 14.5 20 17 13 6 18 13
United States 18.0 17 21 12 20 20 –
United Kingdom 18.2 18 12 17 21 21 2
Dimension 1:Material well-being
Dimension 2: Health and safety
Dimension 3: Educational well-being
Dimension 4: Family and peer relationships
Dimension 5: Behaviors and risks
Dimension 6: Subjective well-being
SOURCE: 2007 UNICEF REPORT on "An overview of child well-being in rich countries"
UNICEF, Child poverty in perspective:
An overview of child well-being in rich countries,
Innocenti Report Card 7, 2007
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence.

Online Dutch lessons for kids: dinolingo.com