To the question “How happy were you over the last two weeks?,” Korean children aged eight, 10, and 12 answered with 8.2 points, 8.2 points and 7.4 points respectively on a scale of 1 to 10, marking the lowest scores. Average scores by age were 8.9, 8.7 and 8.2 points. (image: Kobiz Media / Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — In a comparative survey on the happiness of children, Korean children were found to be the least happy among their peers in other countries.
According to the survey jointly conducted by Save the Children and the Seoul National University (SNU) Social Welfare Research Center, the “subjective happiness score” of Korean children was the lowest among children in 12 countries. The survey was conducted on 42,567 children in Algeria, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Nepal, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and other nations.
To the question “How happy were you over the last two weeks?,” Korean children aged eight, 10, and 12 answered with 8.2 points, 8.2 points and 7.4 points respectively on a scale of 1 to 10, marking the lowest scores. Average scores by age were 8.9, 8.7 and 8.2 points.
By country, Romanian children showed the highest scores with 9.6, 9.3 and 9.1 points, followed by Colombian children with 9.6, 9.2 and 8.2 points. Korean children’s happiness scores were lower than economically undeveloped countries like Nepal (8.4, 8.6 and 8.5 points) and Ethiopia (8.2, 8.6 and 8.8 points).
In other sectors including family, relationships, local communities, schools, time usage, and self-satisfaction, Korean children’s satisfaction rates were lower than average. In particular, Korean showed the lowest scores regarding their looks, physical appearance and academic results, at 7.2 points, 7.4 points and 7.0 points respectively. At the same time, they showed the highest satisfaction score regarding their family sector, at 8.9 points.
Lee Bong-ju, a social welfare professor at SNU said, “Korean children seem to be less satisfied with their looks and academic results because they are demoralized by constantly being compared with others by parents and society.”
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
