Finland ranked 3rd for best childhood

Save the Children has ranked Finland third in its Childhood Index 2017 among the countries where few children miss out on childhood.

In the index published on Thursday Norway ranked first followed by Slovenia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, and Italy. Four countries – Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, and South Korea shared the 10th place among 172 countries.

Guinea is in the bottom of the list, followed by Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Central African Republic, Mali, Angola, and Niger.

Save the Children’s first annual End of Childhood Index compares the latest data for 172 countries and assesses where the most and fewest children are missing out on childhood.

The top 10 countries have attained very high scores for children’s health, education, and protection status, said the report. The United States ranked 36th on the list.

The 10 bottom-ranked countries, including seven from West and Central Africa, are a reverse image of the top, performing poorly on most indicators. Children in these countries are least likely to fully experience childhood, a time that should be dedicated to emotional, social, and physical development, as well as play.

In these and many other countries around the world, children are robbed of significant portions of their childhoods, said the Save the Children report.