A Unicef report this week says that British children are the worst-off among the developed nations. The report is based on statistics and measures what it calls as "child well-being". It covers six categories: material comfort, family and peer relations, health and safety, education, behaviour and risks, and lastly the children's own assessment of their well-being.
The survey covered 21 countries and Britain was bottom third in five of the six categories. In "behaviour and risks" it came bottom - there are more children who smoke, drink and engage in risky sex. Britain also has the largest number of teenage pregnancies which usually leave the mothers abandoned and dependent on the state. On education Britain comes 17th out of 21.
If such is the plight of children in the developed world, are they any better off than their counterparts in the developing world??