A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that children in some of the world’s wealthiest nations are now faring worse than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings challenge the assumption that wealth alone protects child wellbeing, as data shows significant declines in education, mental health, and physical health across 43 high-income countries.
The report Report Card 19: Child Wellbeing in an Unpredictable World, published by UNICEF’s Global Office of Research and Foresight – UNICEF Innocenti, compares child development indicators between 2018 and 2022. It reveals that millions of children experienced academic setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant declines in reading and mathematics skills. The report highlights that prolonged school closures and inadequate access to effective remote learning disproportionately affected students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Director of UNICEF Innocenti, Bo Viktor Nylund, noted that even before the pandemic, children faced numerous challenges and lacked sufficient support—even in wealthier nations. “Now, with growing economic uncertainty, it is crucial for countries to prioritise children’s education, health, and wellbeing to ensure their future prospects and happiness, as well as the economic stability of our societies,” he said.
One of the most alarming statistics from the report is that nearly half of 15-year-olds in the countries studied – around 8 million children – lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. Countries like Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, and Mexico recorded the highest proportions of underperforming students, with over two-thirds of pupils unable to perform essential academic tasks.
Mental health is also in decline. According to the report, overall life satisfaction among children dropped significantly in nearly half of the countries for which data was available. Japan was a rare exception, where children reported improved mental wellbeing during the pandemic.
Physical health trends are similarly concerning. Fourteen of the 43 countries surveyed saw increases in childhood overweight and obesity rates, continuing a pre-existing trend that raises long-term health alarms.
UNICEF warns that these declines illustrate a growing vulnerability among high-income nations to global crises such as pandemics and climate change, which threaten to unravel decades of progress in child welfare.
In light of these findings, UNICEF is urging governments to take urgent, coordinated action across multiple areas. Recommendations include:
Strengthening foundational academic and emotional skills, including literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, and emotional intelligence.
Expanding access to mental health services and tackling both online and offline bullying.
Promoting healthy diets and regulating the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.
Involving children directly in policymaking to ensure their voices are heard.
“In the wake of the pandemic, the data set a worrying benchmark for children’s wellbeing, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Nylund. “The extent of the challenges children are facing means we need a coherent, holistic, whole-of-childhood approach that addresses their needs at every stage of their lives.”
