Children in the Netherlands are among the happiest in the world, research has suggested, and experts say that there could be a number of reasons why this is the case.
A UNICEF report published last year found that children in the Netherlands had the highest sense of wellbeing. The United Nations children’s agency analyzed data across 41 high-income countries, ranking the countries according to how they scored on children’s mental wellbeing, physical health, and the development of both academic and social skills.
Read more at:
Here's what lessons can be learned from parenting in the Netherlands
Showing posts with label Unicef. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unicef. Show all posts
11/26/21
9/28/17
US Economy: Nearly a Third of All Americans Struggle to Make Ends Meet - Daniel B. Kline
About one in five Americans struggle to
pay for basic needs including food, shelter, and medical care, while
roughly one-third of U.S. consumers have a hard time making ends meet,
according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB).
The research, which took place last year, asked respondents 10 questions that were answered on a scale of 0 to 100. About one-third of Americans had financial well-being scores of 50 or below, meaning they have a high probability of not being able to make ends meet. A similar number of Americans scored above 61, which means they are unlikely to face financial hardship. The other third, of course, falls in the middle, somewhere between financial security and financial hardship.
What is financial well-being? "Financial well-being is a state of being wherein a person can fully meet current and ongoing financial obligations, can feel secure in their financial future and is able to make choices that allow them to enjoy life," according to the CFPB.
Differences in financial well-being do depend on income, but that's not the only, or even the most-important factor. Since a high earner can overspend, and not be in control of his or her finances, financial well-being is not driven by income. The key difference between people with positive and negative financial well-being is actually savings and financial cushions.
"The average financial well-being for adults with the lowest level of savings (less than $250) is 41, compared to 68 for adults with the highest level of liquid savings ($75,000 or more)," wrote the CFPB. "When we look at a related measure -- the capacity to absorb unexpected expenses -- we observe similar differences in scores."
Read more: Nearly a Third of All Americans Struggle to Make Ends Meet -- The Motley Fool
The research, which took place last year, asked respondents 10 questions that were answered on a scale of 0 to 100. About one-third of Americans had financial well-being scores of 50 or below, meaning they have a high probability of not being able to make ends meet. A similar number of Americans scored above 61, which means they are unlikely to face financial hardship. The other third, of course, falls in the middle, somewhere between financial security and financial hardship.
What is financial well-being? "Financial well-being is a state of being wherein a person can fully meet current and ongoing financial obligations, can feel secure in their financial future and is able to make choices that allow them to enjoy life," according to the CFPB.
Differences in financial well-being do depend on income, but that's not the only, or even the most-important factor. Since a high earner can overspend, and not be in control of his or her finances, financial well-being is not driven by income. The key difference between people with positive and negative financial well-being is actually savings and financial cushions.
"The average financial well-being for adults with the lowest level of savings (less than $250) is 41, compared to 68 for adults with the highest level of liquid savings ($75,000 or more)," wrote the CFPB. "When we look at a related measure -- the capacity to absorb unexpected expenses -- we observe similar differences in scores."
Read more: Nearly a Third of All Americans Struggle to Make Ends Meet -- The Motley Fool
4/11/17
EU: Going Dutch? What Americans can learn from how children are raised in the Netherlands - by Amy Perrette
Data backs up Acosta's impression. In the latest UNICEF study ranking 29 of the world's richest industrialized countries according to child well-being, Dutch children come out on top. America ranks 26th, just above Lithuania and Latvia.
Acosta and her British friend, Michele Hutchison (also an expat married to a Dutch man), decided to document the differences they saw between their own pressurized childhoods and the Dutch parenting style, and explain what it is about the Dutch approach that is producing such contented kids. The result is their book, "The Happiest Kids in the World: How Dutch Parents Help Their Kids (and Themselves) by Doing Less."
“Scrap the idea of ‘quality time,’ as American and British parents know it,” says Hutchison. “That is too stressful and puts too much pressure on planning and finances.”
Instead, Dutch parents enjoy spending lots of relaxed time together at family meals, or having the children play nearby while the parent is attending to his or her own interests and projects.
Part of why Dutch parents are able to have that low-key family time is because they allow their children a high degree of independence, even allowing them to climb trees unsupervised and bike alone at a young age.
“It isn’t that the Dutch aren’t aware of risk,” Acosta says. “They just keep the risk in perspective.”
Dutch kids are not taught to read and write until about age 7 and don’t get regular homework until their early teenage years, yet they score at the top of educational achievement and participation in the same UNICEF study.
Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, professor of applied psychology at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, says that low-stress start to schooling makes good sense.
“A huge number of studies show that children's motivation to do things — to be engaged, to learn about their world — goes up when they make choices about what to do,” she says.
Stressing less and relaxing more as the recipe for happy children? It might be time we all “go Dutch.”
Read more: Going Dutch? What Americans can learn from how children are raised in the Netherlands - TODAY.com
1/9/14
NSA Spying: GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief - James Ball and Nick Hopkins
British and American intelligence agencies had a comprehensive list of surveillance targets that included the EU's competition commissioner, German government buildings in Berlin and overseas, and the heads of institutions that provide humanitarian and financial help to Africa, top-secret documents reveal.
The papers show GCHQ, in collaboration with America's National Security Agency (NSA), was targeting organisations such as the United Nations development programme, the UN's children's charity Unicef and Médecins du Monde, a French organisation that provides doctors and medical volunteers to conflict zones.
The head of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) also appears in the documents, along with text messages he sent to colleagues.
The latest disclosures will add to Washington's embarrassment after the heavy criticism of the NSA when it emerged that it had been tapping the mobile phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
One GCHQ document, drafted in January 2009, makes clear that the agencies were targeting an email address listed as belonging to another important American ally – the "Israeli prime minister". Ehud Olmert was in office at the time.
Read more: GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief | UK news | The Guardian
The papers show GCHQ, in collaboration with America's National Security Agency (NSA), was targeting organisations such as the United Nations development programme, the UN's children's charity Unicef and Médecins du Monde, a French organisation that provides doctors and medical volunteers to conflict zones.
The head of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) also appears in the documents, along with text messages he sent to colleagues.
The latest disclosures will add to Washington's embarrassment after the heavy criticism of the NSA when it emerged that it had been tapping the mobile phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
One GCHQ document, drafted in January 2009, makes clear that the agencies were targeting an email address listed as belonging to another important American ally – the "Israeli prime minister". Ehud Olmert was in office at the time.
Read more: GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germans, Israeli PM and EU chief | UK news | The Guardian
4/12/13
Child Well Being: Netherlands places first in child well being survey by UNICEF
The Netherlands placed first in a survey of child well-being in 29 nations of the industrial world produced by the UNICEF Office of Research, based on data from 2009-2010, and released yesterday.
Norway and Iceland placed second and third respectively. The US placed 26th.
More than three quarters of the 21 countries saw a decline in alcohol use by young people 17 out of 20 countries also reported a fall in cannabis ( marihuana) use over the decade.
Germany and the United Kingdom have more than halved cannabis (marihuana) use among young people over the decade. This result seems to put a question on the need to legalize the use of marihuana as has been proposed in some countries.
For the complete UNICEF report click here
Norway and Iceland placed second and third respectively. The US placed 26th.
More than three quarters of the 21 countries saw a decline in alcohol use by young people 17 out of 20 countries also reported a fall in cannabis ( marihuana) use over the decade.
Germany and the United Kingdom have more than halved cannabis (marihuana) use among young people over the decade. This result seems to put a question on the need to legalize the use of marihuana as has been proposed in some countries.
For the complete UNICEF report click here
10/12/10
160 million malnourished children losing the battle for food against the worlds spoiled and pampered pets
Spending on pet supplies and over-the-counter medicines for pets is projected to reach about euro 8 billion in the US this year alone. Records also show people will continue to be spending above and beyond on their pets, in particular as the population ages and pets start taking the place of children at home. Consequently pets have drawn more and more the attention of large retailers and institutional investors, who have been expanding quite aggressively into this lucrative "pet space".
Pet products and services are now also catching up with the growing popularity of review sites such as www.petinsurancereview.com, product reviews on Amazon.com, and instantaneous feedback on Twitter. Blogs such as Pet Connection, Pet Sit USA and Dolittler continue to provide high quality commentary on all aspects of pet news and issues, and are expanding their reach and depth across the "pet web". The number of pet bloggers also continues to grow and the best are even more accessible on the blog list website Alltop pets. There is even a proposal in the US Congress to allow taxpayers to deduct up to euro 3,000-a-year in pet care expenses, including vet care.
Is this really fair? No it isn't, especially if we know that : 1) The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- 2)That Since you've read this at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year alone. 3) One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. 4)The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. 5) The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. 6) Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, far less than what people in the Western world spend on their pets per day.
No one is suggesting not to have pets, or not to spoil them. What would be fair, however, is for governments of affluent countries like the US, EU, and Asia to impose a small tax on all pet products, foods and services, and earmark these collected funds for UN programs which deal with human suffering in the world.
In this way "the Jones family" who took their poodle to a "poodle boutique" for it to get groomed, followed up by a delicious " vitamin filled gourmet can of dog food" can be happy to know they also did a good deed. For by law, a small percentage of the bill they paid, to take care of their dearly loved poodle, would also be feeding a hungry child somewhere in the world they probably never knew even existed.
It is known as compassion for your fellow human beings.
EU-Digest
For permission to quote or publish EU-Digest reports : editor@eu-digest.com
Pet products and services are now also catching up with the growing popularity of review sites such as www.petinsurancereview.com, product reviews on Amazon.com, and instantaneous feedback on Twitter. Blogs such as Pet Connection, Pet Sit USA and Dolittler continue to provide high quality commentary on all aspects of pet news and issues, and are expanding their reach and depth across the "pet web". The number of pet bloggers also continues to grow and the best are even more accessible on the blog list website Alltop pets. There is even a proposal in the US Congress to allow taxpayers to deduct up to euro 3,000-a-year in pet care expenses, including vet care.
Is this really fair? No it isn't, especially if we know that : 1) The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- 2)That Since you've read this at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year alone. 3) One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. 4)The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. 5) The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. 6) Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, far less than what people in the Western world spend on their pets per day.
No one is suggesting not to have pets, or not to spoil them. What would be fair, however, is for governments of affluent countries like the US, EU, and Asia to impose a small tax on all pet products, foods and services, and earmark these collected funds for UN programs which deal with human suffering in the world.
In this way "the Jones family" who took their poodle to a "poodle boutique" for it to get groomed, followed up by a delicious " vitamin filled gourmet can of dog food" can be happy to know they also did a good deed. For by law, a small percentage of the bill they paid, to take care of their dearly loved poodle, would also be feeding a hungry child somewhere in the world they probably never knew even existed.
It is known as compassion for your fellow human beings.
EU-Digest
For permission to quote or publish EU-Digest reports : editor@eu-digest.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)