Part 1 presents a league table of child well-being in 29 of the world’s advanced economies.

Part 2 looks at what children say about their own well-being (including a league table of children’s life satisfaction).

Part 3 examines changes in child well-being in advanced economies over the first decade of the 2000s, looking at each country’s progress in educational achievement, teenage birth rates, childhood obesity levels, the prevalence of bullying, and the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

P.51 Findings
Cigarettes
» The percentage of children and young people who smoke cigarettes has fallen in all 21 countries for which comparable data are available (with the exception of Greece and Sweden where rates were low at the beginning of the decade and have remained stable).
» The biggest falls over the decade were recorded in Germany, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom – all of which more than halved the proportion of young people who report smoking cigarettes.

Alcohol
» More than three-quarters of the 21 countries also saw declines in alcohol use by young people – as measured by the proportion of 11-, 13- and 15-yearolds who report having been drunk on at least two occasions.
» The biggest falls were again recorded in Germany (where the alcohol abuse rate fell from 18% to under 12%) and in the United Kingdom (which saw a decline from 30% to just under 20%).
» Despite the declining overall trend, the children and young people of three countries – the Czech Republic, Denmark and Finland – still have alcohol abuse rates of over 20%.
» The biggest rise in alcohol abuse by young people was seen in the Czech Republic (rising from 15% to 22%).

Cannabis
» 17 out of 20 countries reported a fall in cannabis use. » The biggest percentage point falls were achieved in Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
» Canada still has the highest level of cannabis use among young people, despite reducing its usage rate from 40% in 2001/2002 to 28% in 2009/2010.
» Germany has more than halved cannabis use among young people over the decade (from 19% to 9%).
» Starting from a higher level, the United Kingdom has also halved cannabis use among young people (from 34% to 17%).
» Switzerland has cut cannabis use among young people by more than a third (from 38% to 24%).

P.49 Figure 7.3a Changes between 2001/2002 and 2009/2010 in the percentage of young people aged 11, 13 and 15 who reported smoking at least once a week
P.50 Figure 7.3b Changes between 2001/2002 and 2009/2010 in the percentage of young people aged 11, 13 and 15 who reported having been drunk on more than two occasions
P.50 Figure 7.3c Changes between 2001/2002 and 2009/2010 in the percentage of young people aged 11, 13 and 15 who reported having used cannabis in the last 12 months