73.1% of Israeli children are satisfied with their lives, according to a Global Children’s Survey released Friday.
The survey asked over 50,000 children ages 8, 10, and 12 from 15 countries various questions regarding the level of satisfaction with their lives.
The study found, among other things, that children in European countries tend to be more satisfied socially than children of African countries, who tend to be more satisfied with their academic lives. The survey was published by Walla! News.
Regarding average overall satisfaction, Israel is above most of the countries studied, with an average of 9.2 out of 10 – placing between children of Algeria and Turkey. Colombia and Romania topped the list, despite a downturn in both countries’ economies. South Korea’s children are the least satisfied with their lives, out of the countries examined.
Despite this, 3.5% of Israelis polled gave satisfaction scores of under 5 (out of 10). Five countries – Norway, Algeria, Colombia, Romania and Spain – have lower rates of children who are not satisfied with their lives than Israel’s.
It was also found that in countries such as Nepal, South Africa and South Korea there is a significant gap between children in the same age group, but results from Israel indicate a relatively high uniformity despite widening gaps in socioeconomic status.
The children were presented many questions concerning, inter alia, family life and their home, social life, their financial situation and their property, their situation at school, area of residence, awareness of children’s rights and general satisfaction.
Thus, for example, the survey found that in Europe, as well as South Korea, the level of happiness of children decreased between the ages of 10 and 12 – a trend not found in Israel and Ethiopia.
Happiness remained at about the same levels between boys and girls, but specific parameters relating to self-esteem and body image saw significant differences between boys and girls in Europe and South Korea, but not in other countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
In addition, in Estonia, Poland, South Korea and the UK, children spend their most of their time working on homework, but children from Poland, Norway and Israel are leading the list of countries in which children pass the most time on athletic activities.