The Good Childhood Report

The Good Childhood Report 2023 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.

In view of the broad range of social issues currently affecting life in the UK, the report further explores children’s feelings about the future and their sense of safety in different settings and situations.

Key findings from this year’s report:

• Almost a third of the children aged 10 to 17 were unhappy with at least one of the ten specific areas of their lives that they were asked about.
• The majority (74%) of children felt positive about their own futures, but less than four in ten felt positive about the future of the country and the world.
• Children aged 10 to 17 who worried about how much money their family had were more likely to be unhappy than those without financial worries with all the different aspects of life that they were asked about, and particularly with their home, money and things they own, and the amount of choice they have.
• When asked about a set of nine societal issues, rising prices was the top worry among children, followed by the environment.