The country where the world's happiest children live

A major study has shown that children, regardless of where they are from, are by and large satisfied with their lives.

Germany's Goethe University surveyed 53,000 children, aged between 10 and 12, across 15 countries, finding that children in Romania had the highest mean happiness score, despite vast differences in the material comforts children from different countries enjoyed.

When comparing this data to the separate World Happiness Report, which looks at 158 countries, the difference in happiness based on where people live is stark, however.

Professor Asher Ben-Arieh, one of the study's principal investigators, commented: "Our work demonstrates that it is possible and valuable to ask children how they feel about their lives and that different children from different places share a common childhood.

"The findings highlight aspects of life where children in each country have relatively high and low well-being. The report contains important messages for policy makers, practitioners, parents and all those concerned with improving children's quality of life."

More: [These are the happiest countries in the world]3

More: [Welcome to the happiest country in the world]4