**4.1 Relationship between subjective well-being of children and objective indicators that ensure children's well-being**

UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) has compiled a ranking of child well-being in wealthy European countries. The center's specialists wanted to understand how the financial situation of families with children in such countries affects the education and health of children, as well as their overall satisfaction with life. The study has found that, in general, the most suitable countries for children are the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. At the same time, many of the richest countries in the world, having the resources necessary to ensure a happy childhood for all children, do not really live up to expectations [12].

Results of the Children's Worlds project generally confirm the given conclusion. **Figure 1** shows the relationship between the country's GDP (gross domestic product) and the level of subjective well-being of children. Children in such economically developed countries as Spain, Norway, and Switzerland estimate the level of subjective well-being higher than the average for the population, but there is no close relationship between the level of GDP per capita and the level of subjective well-being of children. In rich countries, the situation of children is by no means always better than in the countries where the economic situation is less favorable. Thus, according

**Figure 1.** *Scatterplot of countries in terms of GDP and subjective well-being of children.*

**Figure 2.** *Scatterplot showing the relationship between Child Prosperity Index and overall life satisfaction.*

to the results of the project, children in Albania are happier than their peers in Germany, and children in India are happier than in Finland.

The commission convened by the WHO (World Health Organization), UNICEF, and The Lancet has created a ranking of countries on the basis of the Child Prosperity Index (**Figure 2**). It considers the following parameters: child survival and well-being rate, education and nutrition, income level, and environmental conditions. There is a straight and steady correlation between the Child Prosperity Index and children's general satisfaction. Furthermore, if we consider that the Child Prosperity Index represents the factors that are the basis of general life satisfaction, then such countries as Albania, Greece, Romania, and India use these factors with a higher efficiency than the other countries.

### **4.2 Cognitive and emotional components of the subjective well-being of children**

In our present study, we consider, on the one hand, how positively a child evaluates themselves and their life in general (cognitive or cognitive–evaluative component); and, on the other hand, how competent the child is in relation with the environment, is aware of themselves in the context of relations with other people and society as a whole, feels harmony with the world, is prosperous in these relations with the world and with themselves, and is happy (emotional component). The focus is on awareness – understanding happiness and what it means to be happy, from the perspective of a child.


### **Table 1.**

*Indicators and factor loadings of the subjective well-being components.*

As a result of factor analysis, a two-factor structure of the subjective well-being of children was obtained (**Table 1**).

The first of the identified factors, which is called the emotional component, practically coincides with the Children's Worlds Subjective Well-Being Scale in terms of the composition of indicators [11]. This factor also includes such indicators as "Satisfaction with: What may happen to you later in your life." The cumulative percentage of variance explained by this factor is 52%.

The emotional component is characterized as a subjective feeling of satisfaction with oneself and one's own life, a subjective experience associated with the values of life and the system of the child's emotionally colored assessments. This component includes an assessment of how happy the child is in life, as well as satisfaction with possible future prospects – what can happen in life in the future.

The highest factor loadings in relation to the emotional component have such indicators as "I am happy with my life," "The things that happen in my life are excellent," "I like my life," "I have a good life." There are direct significant strong correlations between all these indicators.

Pearson's correlation coefficient ranges from 0.819 between "I like my life" and "My life is going well" to 0.922 between "I like my life" and "I am happy with my life." According to the Student's criterion for dependent samples, there are no statistically significant differences in the quantitative assessment of these indicators.

The second factor, the cognitive (cognitive–evaluative) component, includes components of the Children's Worlds scale of basic cognitive values and indicators such as "Satisfaction with: All the things you have, the people you live with, the house or flat where you live." The cumulative percentage of variance explained by this factor is 26%. The greatest factor loading in relation to this factor is shown by such indicators as "Satisfaction with: All the things you have," "Satisfaction with: The people you live with."

In contrast to the emotional component, the cognitive one reveals the specific relationship of the child to the actual phenomena (surrounding things, objects, close people, etc.). The cognitive component reveals awareness of oneself in the context of interaction with others and society as a whole.

There are direct significant correlations between the emotional and cognitive components and such indicators as "Overall Subjective Well-Being," "Positive and Negative Affects Scale," "Psychological Subjective Well-Being." The closest relationship was noted between the emotional component and Psychological Subjective Well-Being.

The emotional component in the structure of subjective well-being is a tool by which a child is able to concentrate their consciousness on themselves and their inner world.

A two-stage cluster analysis in the context of the selected components of subjective well-being made it possible to group children into three clusters that are homogeneous in relation to the phenomenon under consideration.

The first cluster includes 63.8% of respondents. Both factors of subjective wellbeing are higher than the average for the general population. Between the components, there is a direct significant correlation of the average strength (Pearson's correlation coefficient, R = 0.509).

The second cluster includes 24.1% of respondents. The cognitive component is higher than the population average; the emotional component is below the population average. There is an inverse significant correlation between the components (R = −0.315).

The third cluster includes 12.1% of respondents. The cognitive component is lower than the population average; the emotional component corresponds to the population average. There is a direct significant correlation between the components (R = 0.545).

A qualitative interpretation of the statistical data obtained, taking into account the cognitive and emotional components of subjective well-being, made it possible to distribute the children into groups, in the context of the identified three clusters (**Figure 3**).

**The first group: "happy"** – children with a level of satisfaction with life above the average. They are pleased with themselves; the house in which they live, their

**Figure 3.** *Distribution of children into the cluster groups.*

### *Predictors of Child Well-Being or What Makes Children Happy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106772*

things; school life and acquired knowledge; communicating with the people around them – relatives and friends, teachers and classmates – gives them joy. Teachers at school and relatives at home show, in their opinion, care for them. That is, on the one hand, these children cognitively appreciate everything that they have in life; on the other hand, they are satisfied with their lives, they experience pleasure and happiness, and these children are prosperous.

**The second group: "relatively happy"** – these are children, on the one hand, evaluating their life as "prosperous" and feeling happy; on the other hand, they are cognitively not completely satisfied with what they have – indicators of the cognitive component are below average. In our opinion, it is these children who know how to be happy in the proposed life circumstances, appreciate and know how to enjoy what they have, while noting that they would like more.

The third group: "**relatively unhappy"** – children falling into a special **"risk group**." On the one hand, these children state that they practically do not need anything: they have relatives and friends at home, teachers at school to take care of them; there are friends they can ask for help from in case of problems. On the other hand, these children assess their lives as "unsatisfactory" and do not feel happy. In this case, material security does not lead to happiness.

Thus, the objective availability of everything necessary for a full-fledged life of a child does not always determine the subjective well-being and feeling of happiness.

### **4.3 Subjective well-being of children in international comparison**

With an average score of 8.48 on the Scale of Subjective Well-being, Russia (the Tyumen Region) ranked 26th out of 35 countries participating in the third wave of the Children's World study. Lower positions in the list are occupied, among other things, by some European countries such as Estonia, Germany, and Wales. Interestingly, Hong Kong (one of the leading global cities and financial centers of the world) closes this list. And children from Albania consider themselves the happiest – the biggest mystery of the current wave of research, both for the team of project organizers and for all participants. The top lines are occupied, among others, by India, Sri Lanka, and Algeria [10].

### **4.4 Child well-being and family**

Children's general life satisfaction and subjective well-being are predictably most closely linked to their family satisfaction and the frequency of family events. These data are supported by numerous studies by Russian and international colleagues [13, 14].

In the Tyumen region, 89.2% of child respondents gave their satisfaction with the people they live with 7 points out of 10 and more. Sixty percent of children are absolutely happy in their families (10 points out of 10). Thus, the majority of children are happy with their relatives, girls being more satisfied with their family (9.23) than boys (8.91). It should be noted that in 12 out of 30 countries surveying children aged 10 and 12, including Russia, family satisfaction is significantly decreased within the age of 10 to 12 years old [13–16].

Nonetheless, all the respondents mention that their parents do not always listen to them and take their words into account. For the children of both age groups, general life satisfaction most strongly correlates with such an indicator of family satisfaction

as "*My parents listen to me and pay attention to what I say."* There is a straight and statistically significant relationship between these aspects, more so in the 12-year-old age group.

The most low-rated indicator is "*My parents and I make decisions about my life together*." There is no marked difference between 10- and 12-year-old children in evaluating this statement. In the international context, the statement concerning the children's participation in making decisions about their life is the most opposed one. Efim Arkin's observation that "parents get involved in their children's life too often, yet unfortunately very rarely take interest in it" is of relevance in this case.
