Growing up in Netherlands is jolly good

LONDON: The happiest children in Europe are in the Netherlands and Scandinavia but Britain is among the worst places to grow up, according to new British research published yesterday.

A league table of young people's wellbeing places the Netherlands top of 29 European states, followed by Sweden and Norway, while Britain comes in at 24th.

The table, focusing on youngsters aged up to 19, was compiled by researchers at York University in northern England for the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) using data mainly from 2006.