UK Bottom of the league for child welfare

The United Nations children’s organisation, Unicef published the first ever study of childhood in ‘industralised’ nations in the report, Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries which examined the well-being of children in 21 nations. The study took place between 2000 and 2003 and looked at 40 different indicators including health, family and poverty. The Netherlands topped the league table followed by Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Unsurprisingly, Britain was bottom of the league just below the United States. Whilst the authors stated that “the process of international comparison can never be freed from questions of translation, culture and custom”, Professor Jonathan Bradshaw from York University, one of the report authors nevertheless ascribed britain’s low standing to a “dog-eat-dog” culture. When reviewing the number of young people who drink alcohol and take drugs, engage in unsafe sex and become pregnant at an early age britain came last “by a considerable distance” with 40% of children under 15 having already had sex. More than 30% of 15 to 19-year olds were not in education or training and tended to seek out low-skilled work. The report also noted high rates of obesity and bullying with british parents less likely to spend time talking to and eating with their children.

The british government went on the defensive claiming that they have helped to improve children’s welfare. However the report revealed that the number of children in poverty has doubled since 1979 with almost one in three children admitting to being drunk on two or more occasions. An online poll of over 10,000 the BBC News website revealed that 79% of people agreed that Britain was failing its children.

Chief executive of the Children’s Society, Bob Reitemeier highlighted the disturbing nature of the reports findings in relation to the UK. He said; “We simply cannot ignore these shocking findings. Unicef's report is a wake-up call to the fact that, despite being a rich country, the UK is failing children and young people in a number of crucial ways. In a society which is very unequal, with high levels of poverty, it leads on to what children think about themselves and their lives. That's really what's at the heart of this".

The Children's Commissioner for England, Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green, said: "We are turning out a generation of young people who are unhappy, unhealthy, engaging in risky behaviour, who have poor relationships with their family and their peers, who have low expectations and don't feel safe."