Children’s Subjective Well-Being During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

How did the coronavirus pandemic affect the subjective well-being (SWB) of children? In this paper, we use data from the Children’s World Survey, encompassing 9,684 children aged 9 to 15 residing in nine European countries. Our goal is to evaluate the influence of both material —access to digital communication devices— and immaterial factors —information sources about Covid-19, activities conducted during lockdown, and the extent of social support— on children’s SWB during the pandemic. We also account for individual characteristics, such as age and gender, as well as country-specific effects. The analysis, employing ordinary least-squares (OLS) and ordered logit (OLogit) methods, reveals that various factors contributed to reduced SWB in children during the pandemic. These factors include loneliness, a lack of active leisure activities, fragmented family environments, and insufficient or no social support from teachers or friends. Additionally, the absence of internet access and reliable sources of information about coronavirus negatively affected children’s SWB. However, lacking the material conditions for networking was a less prominent concern for children compared to the absence of support from family and friends or the inability to engage in activities that they deemed valuable for themselves or others.