Finnish children enjoy better well being than almost all other countries in the developed world, according to a UNICEF report recently published. Comparing 29 ‘advanced economies’, Finland ranked fourth after the Netherlands, Norway and Iceland. However, the country ranked even better on some specific criteria.
Finland’s children enjoyed better material well being than any other country, bar one, and third in health and safety. Education (4th) was another they did well in.
In fact, under ‘Educational achievement by age 15’, Finnish children’s PISA scores for reading, maths and science literacy ranked them highest worldwide. Their neighbours in Sweden and Norway also ranked near the top.
Another important achievement for child well-being in Finland was the 3.6 per cent relative poverty rate for children under 18 living in households in the lower half of the median income level. The country also boasted the world’s highest immunization rate, of 99 per cent.
The report didn’t necessarily support a direct correlation between economic success and child welfare, with some former eastern bloc countries such as the Czech Republic also scoring well.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a UN sponsored IGO that operates in 191 countries and is mostly dedicated to raising the well-being of children in developing countries. It has been operating since 1946.