Comparing Children’s subjective Well-Being around the World. Results from the third Wave of the Children’s Worlds Study

Abstract

Too little is still known about how children experience childhood, and how this varies in different countries and contexts around the world. International comparisons of children’s well-being often exclusively use objective indicators. It is only in recent years that children’s views about their well-being have come to be measured in international comparative research. The Children’s Worlds study has been at the forefront of this development over the last decade. The third wave of the study, recently completed, covered a diverse range of 35 countries and territories across four continents and is unique in this diversity of geographical coverage, in the age range it focuses on (8 to 12 years), and in the breadth of topics it covers. This article presents key findings from this wave, comparing levels in children’s overall well-being and satisfaction with different aspects of their lives, and analysing inequalities according to gender and material conditions.