A major new study of children has revealed that spoiling them with material possessions before the age of 12 has little impact on their happiness levels overall.
In a study of 53,000 children aged between ten and 12, Goethe University researchers found that Romanian children were most likely to rate their overall happiness at ten out of ten. Children in Colombia and Israel were a close second. Meanwhile children were least happy in South Korea, where just 40 per cent of children rate their happiness level at 100 per cent.
Researchers found no correlation between the childrens' satisfaction levels and how many material goods they lacked.
The survey asked children about all key aspects of their lives including their family and home life, friendships, money and possessions, school life, local area, time use, personal well-being, views on children's rights, and their overall happiness.
Researchers found children's well-being decreased between the ages of 10 and 12 in many European countries and in South Korea, while there was no age pattern in other countries such as Israel and Ethiopia.
Interestingly, overall happiness did not vary between girls and boys, but there were significant gender differences in satisfaction with body, appearance and self-confidence in Europe and South Korea, but not in the other countries in the survey in Asia, Africa and South America.
According to the Children's Worlds, the International Survey of Children's Well-Being, the 15 countries where children are happiest are:
- Romania
- Colombia
- Israel
- Algeria
- Turkey
- Norway
- Estonia
- Spain
- Germany
- Ethiopia
- South Africa
- Nepal
- Poland
- United Kingdom
- South Korea
