What proportion of children are happy with their life at the moment?

About this data

Children aged 9-17 were asked “How happy are you with these things in your life now?”, and were given a list of items to assess with the response options ‘Very Unhappy’, ‘Unhappy’, ‘Neither happy nor unhappy’, ‘Happy’ or ‘Very Happy’. The list of items was:

  • My friendships
  • My experiences online
  • My personal safety
  • My access to somewhere outside to go to have fun
  • The choice of things to do in my local area
  • Life at school
  • My progress in education
  • My mental health
  • My physical health
  • My family’s health
  • My family life
  • My family’s ability to buy things we need
  • My life overall

The tables below show the percentage of children happy or very happy with various aspects of their lives broken down by characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity and disadvantage (e.g. children in care and special educational needs).


Overall results

% of children happy with… Percentage of 9 to 17 year olds
My family’s ability to buy things we need 89%
My friendships 80%
My personal safety 80%
My family life 80%
My family’s health 78%
My experiences online 74%
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72%
My life overall 71%
My progress in education 68%
My physical health 68%
My mental health 57%
Life at school or college 56%
The choice of things to do in my local area 52%


Age

% of children happy with… 9 to 11 12 to 15 16 to 17 Relative risk (16-17 vs 9-11) How big is this difference? Statistical significance
My family’s ability to buy things we need 89.9% 89.5% 85.4% 0.95 Small ***
My friendships 81.7% 80.3% 76.9% 0.94 Very small ***
My experiences online 76.2% 74.8% 69.0% 0.91 Small ***
My personal safety 84.2% 79.5% 75.7% 0.90 Small ***
My family life 86.0% 78.9% 70.9% 0.82 Medium ***
My family’s health 84.1% 77.8% 67.8% 0.81 Medium ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 79.0% 71.7% 62.7% 0.79 Small ***
Life at school or college 66.2% 51.2% 51.9% 0.79 Small ***
My life overall 80.1% 67.8% 61.8% 0.77 Medium ***
My progress in education 78.1% 64.2% 59.4% 0.76 Small ***
My physical health 79.4% 64.8% 54.0% 0.68 Medium ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 64.8% 49.8% 36.5% 0.56 Medium ***
My mental health 72.7% 52.3% 40.5% 0.56 Medium ***


Gender

% of children happy with… Female Male Other Relative risk (Male vs Female) How big is this difference? Statistical significance
My mental health 49.3% 66.9% 24.3% 1.36 Small ***
My life overall 66.4% 77.8% 37.5% 1.17 Small ***
My experiences online 68.8% 79.7% 65.1% 1.16 Small ***
My physical health 64.6% 72.6% 40.4% 1.12 Small ***
Life at school or college 54.9% 60.3% 30.9% 1.10 Very small ***
My progress in education 65.8% 72.1% 45.4% 1.10 Very small ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 50.9% 55.3% 31.8% 1.09 Very small ***
My family life 77.5% 84.0% 52.0% 1.08 Small ***
My family’s health 76.2% 81.1% 56.9% 1.06 Very small ***
My personal safety 78.7% 83.6% 57.4% 1.06 Very small ***
My friendships 78.3% 83.0% 64.7% 1.06 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 71.9% 74.6% 52.8% 1.04 Very small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 89.2% 89.4% 74.3% 1.00 Very small


Ethnicity

% of children happy with… Asian Black Mixed Other White BME Relative risk (White vs BME) How big is this difference? Statistical significance
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 64.7% 63.7% 69.1% 66.7% 74.7% 65.6% 1.14 Small ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 49.9% 46.4% 49.8% 50.9% 53.0% 49.2% 1.08 Very small ***
My physical health 64.5% 67.1% 66.6% 67.0% 68.0% 65.6% 1.04 Very small ***
My life overall 70.8% 66.2% 68.7% 69.9% 71.3% 69.4% 1.03 Very small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.2% 84.9% 86.6% 85.5% 89.5% 87.0% 1.03 Very small ***
My experiences online 74.0% 69.5% 73.1% 70.0% 74.8% 72.7% 1.03 Very small ***
My family life 79.3% 78.1% 76.4% 79.9% 80.2% 78.4% 1.02 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.5% 77.2% 78.4% 78.3% 80.8% 79.2% 1.02 Very small ***
My family’s health 76.9% 79.1% 75.6% 79.4% 78.1% 77.1% 1.01 Very small ***
My friendships 80.9% 77.8% 78.6% 78.3% 80.5% 79.7% 1.01 Very small ***
My progress in education 69.5% 66.4% 67.0% 67.3% 68.0% 68.2% 1.00 Very small
Life at school or college 61.8% 51.5% 55.4% 55.7% 56.2% 58.0% 0.97 Very small ***
My mental health 61.9% 58.8% 56.2% 62.9% 55.7% 60.0% 0.93 Very small ***


Detailed ethnicity

% of children happy with… African Any other Asian background Any other Black/African/Caribbean background Any other White background Arab Bangladeshi Caribbean Chinese English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British Gypsy or Irish Traveller Indian Irish Other Pakistani White and Asian White and Black African White and Black Caribbean BME Relative risk Effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 78.5% 78.9% 76.7% 79.1% 78.3% 79.2% 76.7% 76.7% 80.8% 71.4% 82.9% 75.7% 76.5% 81.4% 79.2% 78.9% 77.2% 78.9% 1.02 Very small ***
My experiences online 69.3% 71.3% 70.5% 73.1% 70.0% 72.2% 68.7% 72.9% 75.0% 66.7% 76.5% 71.1% 71.2% 73.6% 73.8% 72.5% 72.2% 72.4% 1.04 Very small ***
My personal safety 78.3% 76.3% 74.9% 77.5% 78.3% 77.9% 77.0% 73.7% 81.2% 73.0% 82.7% 76.2% 77.8% 82.3% 78.3% 78.1% 78.9% 78.6% 1.03 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 62.1% 60.1% 65.6% 69.9% 66.7% 59.0% 67.2% 60.6% 75.1% 68.0% 67.6% 72.2% 69.0% 66.6% 68.3% 68.8% 70.9% 67.0% 1.12 Small ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 45.4% 45.6% 47.6% 49.3% 50.9% 45.0% 48.7% 46.5% 53.3% 49.8% 53.0% 52.7% 52.6% 51.3% 50.4% 50.6% 48.0% 49.8% 1.07 Very small ***
Life at school or college 53.4% 58.5% 48.8% 55.9% 55.7% 55.4% 48.0% 61.2% 56.3% 42.2% 67.7% 53.8% 55.1% 60.2% 58.5% 54.9% 50.0% 56.9% 0.99 Very small ***
My progress in education 68.2% 66.4% 63.4% 68.3% 67.3% 63.6% 63.6% 68.4% 68.2% 52.7% 75.2% 62.0% 67.9% 67.8% 69.8% 67.5% 60.9% 67.7% 1.01 Very small ***
My mental health 60.1% 54.3% 57.4% 53.9% 62.9% 57.8% 55.8% 58.3% 55.9% 52.6% 64.5% 51.6% 58.1% 64.7% 56.1% 59.3% 53.3% 58.4% 0.96 Very small ***
My physical health 66.9% 59.8% 67.0% 65.4% 67.0% 60.4% 68.1% 60.9% 68.3% 63.9% 66.7% 66.2% 67.2% 66.5% 65.4% 68.7% 66.9% 65.8% 1.04 Very small ***
My family’s health 80.2% 74.7% 78.3% 77.6% 79.4% 72.6% 75.3% 73.1% 78.2% 69.3% 78.2% 74.2% 76.4% 78.9% 74.9% 77.9% 74.7% 76.9% 1.02 Very small ***
My family life 78.6% 76.1% 77.5% 77.5% 79.9% 75.4% 76.8% 71.6% 80.5% 69.5% 81.0% 75.7% 77.5% 81.9% 75.8% 77.1% 77.0% 77.9% 1.03 Very small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 85.6% 85.3% 83.8% 88.7% 85.5% 82.5% 84.1% 86.5% 89.7% 77.6% 91.3% 86.5% 86.1% 88.8% 88.6% 84.8% 84.4% 87.0% 1.03 Very small ***
My life overall 67.0% 66.0% 64.5% 68.4% 69.9% 64.3% 66.0% 68.1% 71.7% 62.0% 74.3% 66.9% 68.6% 72.5% 69.6% 68.9% 66.8% 68.9% 1.04 Very small ***


Income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) decile

% of children happy with… 1 (most deprived) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (least deprived) Relative risk (Highest vs lowest) How big is this difference? Statistical significance
The choice of things to do in my local area 47.90% 49.80% 49.70% 50.40% 50.90% 51.30% 53.10% 54% 54.80% 57.50% 1.20 Small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 67.80% 68.50% 69.90% 70.60% 71.20% 73% 74.10% 74.90% 76.10% 76.90% 1.14 Small ***
My life overall 67.70% 69.60% 69.30% 69.50% 70% 70.70% 72% 72.20% 73.40% 74.40% 1.10 Very small ***
Life at school or college 54.90% 56.50% 55.90% 55.10% 57.10% 56% 56.80% 57.30% 58.50% 60.30% 1.10 Very small ***
My physical health 64.70% 66.10% 66% 66.30% 66.20% 67.30% 68.40% 68.90% 69.90% 70.80% 1.09 Very small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 85.90% 86.80% 86.90% 87.60% 88.50% 89.20% 90% 90.80% 91.60% 92.50% 1.08 Small ***
My progress in education 66.80% 68.80% 67.70% 66.90% 68.80% 67.70% 68.80% 68.90% 69.50% 71% 1.06 Very small ***
My friendships 78.60% 79.80% 79.70% 80% 79.70% 81.10% 80.70% 80.50% 81.80% 81.90% 1.04 Very small ***
My family’s health 76.90% 77.50% 76.90% 76.70% 77.60% 78.10% 77.80% 78.60% 79.40% 79.90% 1.04 Very small ***
My personal safety 79.60% 79.40% 79.30% 79.20% 80.70% 80.80% 81.10% 81.70% 81.90% 82.40% 1.04 Very small ***
My experiences online 73.20% 72.40% 73.40% 74.10% 74.30% 74.70% 75% 75.40% 75% 75.20% 1.03 Very small ***
My mental health 56.40% 59% 56.70% 56.30% 56.60% 56% 56.90% 57.10% 56.80% 57.70% 1.02 Very small ***
My family life 79.10% 79.50% 79.30% 79.20% 79.60% 80% 79.90% 80.60% 80.50% 80.90% 1.02 Very small ***


Children in foster care or with a social worker

% of children happy with… Not in care/has a social worker In care/has a social worker relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.18% 74.57% 0.930 Very small ***
My experiences online 74.09% 70.39% 0.950 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.38% 74.94% 0.932 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.39% 72.84% 1.006 Very small
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.20% 56.64% 1.085 Very small ***
Life at school or college 56.50% 56.37% 0.998 Very small
My progress in education 68.06% 66.19% 0.972 Very small ***
My mental health 57.14% 54.67% 0.957 Very small ***
My physical health 67.61% 66.37% 0.982 Very small ***
My family’s health 78.05% 71.40% 0.915 Very small ***
My family life 80.01% 70.28% 0.878 Small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.91% 82.01% 0.922 Small ***
My life overall 71.01% 64.12% 0.903 Very small ***


Children in foster care only

% of children happy with… Not in care In care relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.05% 75.27% 0.940 Very small ***
My experiences online 73.98% 73.89% 0.999 Very small
My personal safety 80.22% 79.82% 0.995 Very small
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.39% 74.17% 1.025 Very small **
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.27% 59.47% 1.138 Very small ***
Life at school or college 56.47% 59.33% 1.051 Very small ***
My progress in education 68.01% 67.79% 0.997 Very small
My mental health 57.03% 60.64% 1.063 Very small ***
My physical health 67.54% 71.74% 1.062 Very small ***
My family’s health 77.86% 76.57% 0.983 Very small
My family life 79.78% 71.84% 0.900 Small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.72% 85.97% 0.969 Very small ***
My life overall 70.83% 66.81% 0.943 Very small ***


Children in residential care (children’s homes) only

V1 variable Not in childrens home Childrens home rr diff p.value
1 My friendships 0.8005377 0.7015050 0.8762924 Small ***
2 My experiences online 0.7401590 0.6588790 0.8901858 Small ***
3 My personal safety 0.8025096 0.7128269 0.8882473 Small ***
4 My access to somewhere outside to have fun 0.7240527 0.6923806 0.9562572 Very small ***
5 The choice of things to do in my local area 0.5232664 0.5641144 1.0780634 Very small ***
6 Life at school or college 0.5650749 0.5551668 0.9824659 Very small
7 My progress in education 0.6802980 0.6159407 0.9053983 Very small ***
8 My mental health 0.5708992 0.5471655 0.9584276 Very small
9 My physical health 0.6757319 0.6477844 0.9586412 Very small **
10 My family’s health 0.7788734 0.6551092 0.8410984 Small ***
11 My family life 0.7973850 0.6439456 0.8075718 Small ***
12 My family’s ability to buy things we need 0.8875374 0.7042677 0.7935077 Medium ***
13 My life overall 0.7085040 0.5902599 0.8331075 Small ***


Children with a social worker only

% of children happy with… Does not have a social worker Has a social worker relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.14% 74.80% 0.933 Very small ***
My experiences online 74.08% 70.12% 0.947 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.36% 74.73% 0.930 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.39% 73.07% 1.009 Very small
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.22% 56.78% 1.087 Very small ***
Life at school or college 56.50% 56.42% 0.999 Very small
My progress in education 68.05% 66.41% 0.976 Very small ***
My mental health 57.15% 53.78% 0.941 Very small ***
My physical health 67.62% 65.86% 0.974 Very small ***
My family’s health 78.04% 70.58% 0.904 Small ***
My family life 79.97% 70.01% 0.875 Small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.89% 81.51% 0.917 Small ***
My life overall 70.98% 63.92% 0.901 Very small ***


Children with special educational needs (SEN)

% of children happy with… No SEN SEN relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.27% 78.02% 0.972 Very small ***
My experiences online 74.33% 71.24% 0.958 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.51% 77.97% 0.968 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.05% 75.12% 1.043 Very small ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 51.75% 56.79% 1.097 Very small ***
Life at school or college 55.76% 62.04% 1.112 Very small ***
My progress in education 67.73% 70.14% 1.036 Very small ***
My mental health 56.54% 61.08% 1.080 Very small ***
My physical health 67.25% 70.03% 1.041 Very small ***
My family’s health 77.84% 77.94% 1.001 Very small
My family life 79.64% 80.29% 1.008 Very small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.98% 86.61% 0.973 Very small ***
My life overall 70.60% 72.38% 1.025 Very small ***


Children receiving mental health support

% of children happy with… Not receiving mental health support Receiving mental health support relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.64% 67.86% 0.841 Small ***
My experiences online 74.67% 60.70% 0.813 Small ***
My personal safety 81.00% 65.26% 0.806 Small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.92% 62.55% 0.858 Small ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.93% 40.88% 0.772 Small ***
Life at school or college 57.33% 40.58% 0.708 Small ***
My progress in education 68.70% 54.73% 0.797 Small ***
My mental health 58.78% 24.32% 0.414 Large ***
My physical health 68.59% 48.38% 0.705 Small ***
My family’s health 78.74% 60.84% 0.773 Small ***
My family life 80.74% 60.12% 0.745 Medium ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 89.05% 82.12% 0.922 Small ***
My life overall 72.17% 44.52% 0.617 Medium ***


Young carers

% of children happy with… Not young carer Young carer relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.05% 75.29% 0.940 Very small ***
My experiences online 74.04% 67.87% 0.917 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.27% 74.45% 0.927 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.42% 70.93% 0.979 Very small **
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.32% 53.64% 1.025 Very small
Life at school or college 56.50% 55.93% 0.990 Very small
My progress in education 68.01% 67.88% 0.998 Very small
My mental health 57.08% 55.02% 0.964 Very small **
My physical health 67.60% 64.87% 0.960 Very small ***
My family’s health 77.94% 68.05% 0.873 Small ***
My family life 79.79% 71.90% 0.901 Small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.80% 78.51% 0.884 Small ***
My life overall 70.85% 65.62% 0.926 Very small ***


Children receiving support from Youth Offending Teams (YOTs)

% of children happy with… Not receiving support from YOT Receiving support from YOT relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.03% 76.18% 0.952 Very small ***
My experiences online 74.00% 68.97% 0.932 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.25% 74.26% 0.925 Very small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.40% 72.45% 1.001 Very small
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.31% 56.72% 1.084 Very small ***
Life at school or college 56.51% 54.13% 0.958 Very small **
My progress in education 68.02% 65.16% 0.958 Very small ***
My mental health 57.04% 61.26% 1.074 Very small ***
My physical health 67.57% 67.68% 1.002 Very small
My family’s health 77.88% 73.22% 0.940 Very small ***
My family life 79.75% 74.00% 0.928 Very small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.75% 79.72% 0.898 Small ***
My life overall 70.82% 66.87% 0.944 Very small ***


Children in kinship care

% of children happy with… Any other family type Kinship care relative risk effect size Statistical significance
My friendships 80.09% 73.04% 0.912 Small ***
My experiences online 74.04% 69.06% 0.933 Very small ***
My personal safety 80.29% 73.79% 0.919 Small ***
My access to somewhere outside to have fun 72.47% 67.16% 0.927 Very small ***
The choice of things to do in my local area 52.41% 45.54% 0.869 Very small ***
Life at school or college 56.59% 48.28% 0.853 Very small ***
My progress in education 68.09% 60.98% 0.896 Very small ***
My mental health 57.18% 46.87% 0.820 Small ***
My physical health 67.66% 60.09% 0.888 Very small ***
My family’s health 77.99% 65.55% 0.840 Small ***
My family life 79.88% 65.61% 0.821 Small ***
My family’s ability to buy things we need 88.79% 81.52% 0.918 Small ***
My life overall 70.98% 55.74% 0.785 Small ***