The Good Childhood Report

Download the full report at the top, or download the summary reports here: 

• The Good Childhood Report 2024 
• The Good Childhood Report 2024 Summary
• The Good Childhood Report 2024 Youth Summary
• Download A National Roadmap to a Good Childhood (GCR 2024 Policy Briefing)

• In 2024, 10- to 17-year-olds were, on average, most happy with their family (out of the 10 aspects of life asked about in our Good Childhood Index). More children and young people (14.3%) were unhappy with school than with the nine other areas of life they were asked about (that is, they scored below the midpoint on the measure of happiness with school).  
• More children and young people said they were worried about rising prices, compared with the other eight societal issues they were asked about. Two in five (41%) children and young people were ‘very’ or ‘quite’ worried about this issue.  
• 23% of parents and carers said that they had found it ‘quite’ or ‘very’ difficult to manage financially between January and March 2024, which indicates that their households were in financial strain.  
• One in six (17%) children and young people living in households in financial strain had low life satisfaction. For children and young people living in households not in financial strain, this was just under one in ten (9%). 

In light of current concerns about the economic difficulties faced by many families in the UK, additional questions were included in this year’s survey for parents and carers, and children and young people, about households’ financial situations and their impact on the children and young people completing the survey. 

Parents and carers were asked whether they had struggled to afford a list of eight items and experiences for their child taking part in the survey over the last 12 months. Over half (53%) reported that they had struggled to afford a holiday away from home, and over two in five reported struggling to afford activities outside of school (43%) and celebrations on special occasions (41%).  

Understandably, larger proportions of parents and carers whose households were identified as being in financial strain (between January and March 2024) struggled to afford all eight items. 

Analysis of data from the latest Understanding Society survey wave, for 2021/22, showed that children’s (aged 10 to 15) mean scores for happiness with their life as a whole, friends, appearance, school, and schoolwork were all significantly lower in 2021/22 than when the Understanding Society survey began in 2009/10.  

In 2021/22, on average, children were most happy with their family and least happy with their appearance. Almost one in six children (15.6%) were unhappy with their appearance (that is, they scored below the midpoint of the scale for this measure).  

The latest Understanding Society data continues to show concerning patterns for girls’ wellbeing. In 2021/22, girls were significantly less happy on average than boys with life as a whole, family, appearance, and school.  

Data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 enabled us to see how the wellbeing of 15-year-olds in the UK compared to that of their peers across Europe. 

When comparing to 26 other countries in Europe, the UK had the lowest average overall life satisfaction among 15-year-olds. 

There were differences in life satisfaction between girls and boys both in the UK, and on average across Europe. In the UK, girls’ average life satisfaction declined between 2018 and 2022, while boys’ remained broadly stable. 

In terms of socio-economic differences, the UK was the European country with the largest gap in average life satisfaction between the 25% most advantaged and the 25% most disadvantaged 15-year-olds.  

Looking at other areas of life linked to wellbeing, the UK performed poorly compared to other countries across Europe on a measure of food deprivation. Notably, the UK was the country with the fourth highest rate of food deprivation. The UK also performed less well on measures related to school safety (including having the second highest level of bullying in Europe); school belonging; and long-term absences.

However, the UK fared well compared to other European countries for measures of family support, and some measures associated with digital devices (like availability of digital resources at home, and 15-year-olds’ agreement with regulation of digital devices in school).  

For far too long a piecemeal approach to addressing these challenges has failed to materialise into improvements to children’s wellbeing. There is an urgent need for a targeted, strategic and long-term vision for children and young people. The findings documented in this report and the clear message from children and young people is that a national mission is required to overturn the decline in children’s wellbeing. 

Children and young people deserve better. We cannot continue, every year, to have to report on UK children’s wellbeing declining. It doesn’t have to be this way. That’s why we’re calling for the government to take decisive action in line with our proposed national roadmap to a good childhood. 

To overturn the decline in children’s wellbeing and set a path to a good childhood, the UK Government must:  

• Prevent crisis by making sure that early intervention and preventative mental health and wellbeing support is in place for young people. This includes rolling out early support hubs in all communities and Mental Health Support Teams in every school.  
• Prioritise children’s wellbeing, recognising that children’s happiness is a crucial marker of a successful society. This includes introducing a national annual measurement of children’s wellbeing as part of a national mission to set a path to a good childhood.  
• End child poverty so that no family goes without the essentials. This includes legislating for a Child Poverty Act and ending the two-child limit and benefit cap.  
• Improve girls’ wellbeing by working to understand and address their unhappiness, taking an intersectional approach to wellbeing.  
• Reform the school experience by ending unwarranted pressures on children in school and prioritising their happiness and health. This includes improving school culture and reforming school assessment.  
• Let children play by providing improved, safe spaces for leisure and play. This includes rebuilding communities for young people and increasing opportunities for them to be active, creative and to socialise.   

For more detail, see A national roadmap to a good childhood: Policy briefing

No child should suffer without support. Every child deserves a good childhood with access to the help they need. 

There is going to be a brighter future at the end of it hopefully.

We protect and listen to young people in their most crucial stages of development. Our emotional health drop-in centres across the country are there for young people when they need to talk about their problems.