The Good Childhood Report 2023
CORC member The Children’s Society are known for their research into children’s wellbeing, and we are pleased to share that The Good Childhood Report 2023 is now available to download.
This is the twelfth in The Children’s Society’s series of annual reports on the wellbeing of children in the UK. This year’s report presents the most recent trends in children’s subjective wellbeing. It takes a closer look at those children who score low on these measures, and the characteristics and experiences which may account for their responses.
It draws on the most recent data sources on children’s wellbeing. The Understanding Society survey, which asks children in the UK how they feel about different aspects of their lives, is a key source for the report. In 2010 The Children’s Society developed The Good Childhood Index which consists of a multi-item measure of overall life satisfaction, and 10 single-item domain measures which ask children about their happiness with different aspects of their lives. These questions are included in The Children’s Society’s annual household survey of children (aged 10 to 17) and their parent or carer. Almost 46,000 children have completed the survey.
The results of the 2023 survey suggested:
- 10% of children and young people aged 10 to 17 have low wellbeing overall.
- Children and young people were, on average, most happy with their family. A larger proportion of children and young people indicated they were unhappy with school than any other aspect of life, followed by appearance.
- Almost a third were unhappy with at least one aspect of their life.
- There were notable differences for some groups of children. For instance, 15-year-olds were more likely to score low on the measures of happiness with their school, appearance, future, and time use. There were also low scores for happiness with school at age 12, when most children are in year 7 and have made the transition to secondary school.
- Children and young people with SEN were more likely than those without SEN to score low on their happiness with their health and their friends.
It is a welcome and valuable report, which we encourage you to take a look at.
There are three reports which you can download from here.