Britain and U.S.: The Worst and Second Worst Places for Children
February 21st, 2007Just put up a few more surveillance cameras. Sorted!
Via: Yahoo / Reuters:
Britain is the worst country in the industrialized world in which to be a child, closely followed by the United States, the
United Nations Children’s Fund said on Wednesday.
The UNICEF charity looked at 40 indicators to gauge the lives of children in 21 economically advanced nations — the first study of its kind — and found Britain’s children were among the poorest and most neglected.
Britain lagged behind on key measures of poverty and deprivation, happiness, relationships, and risky or bad behavior, the study showed.
It scored better for health and safety of children but languished in the bottom third for all other measures, giving it the lowest overall placing, just below the United States.
The United States was ranked worst for health and safety and only Britain scored lower for relationships and risky or bad behavior. The highest ranking for the United States was for education where it was ranked 12th out of the 21 countries.
The study found there was no consistent relationship between a country’s wealth, as measured in gross domestic product per capita, and a child’s quality of life.
The Czech Republic, for example, achieved a higher ranking than economically wealthier France, which was mired in the bottom third along with Britain and the United States.
Children’s happiness was rated highest in northern Europe, with the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark leading the list.
Related: Children’s TV ‘Is Linked to Cancer, Autism, Dementia’
Research Credit: West
