In Ukraine 83% of children feel happy
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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This was announced today by the representative of the President of Ukraine on the rights of the child, Yuri Pavlenko, presenting the results of Ukraine's first sociological survey of children in the framework of the project "The rights of children in Ukraine: realities and challenges after 20 years of independence".
According to him, higher ratings are inherent in respondents aged 10-13 years and residents of villages.
"Among the 16-17-year-old children, 23% do not consider themselves to be happy, among the residents of regional centers the share of such children is 20%, that is, urbanization and transitional age are significant factors for the formation of a lack of happiness in children," said Pavlenko.
Referring to the experts' opinion, the President's authorized representative noted that satisfaction with different spheres of life is one of the main factors of feeling happiness.
"The majority of children - 90%, who noted satisfaction with certain spheres of life, in particular the material situation of the family, housing conditions, their clothes, food, health, family and educational attitudes, the ability to freely express their opinion and access to the necessary information, noted , that they feel happy, "Y. Pavlenko noted.
He also stressed that in general 26% of children indicated that they are satisfied with all the main spheres of their life, 21% of respondents do not consider themselves happy, 39% of children could not determine whether they feel happy.
"The study testified that the level of satisfaction of the child decreases with age. The highest discontent was revealed by the residents of the regional centers. It is interesting that the level of satisfaction with respect to the availability of the necessary information, quality and level of the knowledge obtained, almost does not differ by the type of settlement, "said J. Pavlenko.
The first in Ukraine sociological survey of children - in the framework of the project "Rights of children in Ukraine: realities and challenges after 20 years of independence" - was held from 15 to 30 April 2012 in order to determine the real state of ensuring the rights of the child in Ukraine.
In the course of the survey 4083 children were questioned - pupils of the 5th-11th grades of general education schools, students of the 1st and 2nd courses of PTUZ and higher education institutions of the I-II levels of accreditation (based on 9-year education), 1st year of I -II levels of accreditation (based on 11-year education) and 1 st year of universities III-IV levels of accreditation.
Method of obtaining information - self-completion of the questionnaire in classrooms, using an individual envelope for each respondent. The database also includes responses from 107 children aged 16-17 who do not study or work. They took an individual interview ("face to face").
The study was conducted by the Ukrainian Institute of Social Research named after Alexander Yaremenko, commissioned by the Ukrainian President's Commissioner for Children's Rights, with the technical support of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation for the Development of Ukraine and the UNICEF Office in Ukraine.