87% of Children and Adolescents Have Low Happiness Index... Excessive Studying and Lack of Sleep

A survey revealed that 7 out of 8 children and adolescents in South Korea are unhappy due to insufficient sleep and excessive studying.

On the 4th, a day before the Children's Day holiday, children visiting Children's Grand Park in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, are enjoying their time riding amusement rides. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation on the 6th, the '2023 Child Happiness Index' survey showed that 86.9% (1,940 respondents) of participants had a happiness index rated as 'low.' The proportion of those in the 'low' happiness index category increased by 2.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The Child Happiness Index analyzes a child's day across four lifestyle areas: sleep, study, media, and exercise, comparing actual time spent to recommended durations to calculate the balance of daily life. The 2023 Child Happiness Index survey was conducted from November 22 to December 29 last year, targeting 2,231 students from 5th grade elementary to 2nd grade high school. This year’s child happiness index scored 1.66 out of 4 points, similar to the levels in 2021 (1.68 points) and 2022 (1.70 points).

However, the proportion of children and adolescents with insufficient sleep or excessive study time has been increasing over the past three years. Compared to 2021, the percentage of children and adolescents with insufficient sleep rose by 10.4 percentage points, and those studying longer than the appropriate standard increased by 14.5 percentage points.

Excessive studying has led to a lack of exercise. The proportion of those with insufficient exercise time decreased from 92.7% in 2021 to 87.5% in 2022 but rose again to 90.1% this year.

The number of children having impulsive thoughts is also increasing. The percentage of respondents who reported having impulsively considered extreme choices rose from 4.4% in 2021 and 7.7% in 2022 to 10.2% this year.

According to the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation, children with low happiness indices showed characteristics such as 'late sleeping,' 'staying home,' 'eating dinner alone,' and 'online leisure activities.' The foundation stated, "It is necessary to guarantee children’s rights to sleep and rest, and to encourage them not to study late into the night but to have dinner with their families." They also emphasized the need to promote outdoor activities, establish measures against game and online gambling addiction, and secure spaces for face-to-face social interaction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.