How Materialism Affects our Children

A really interesting study conducted by UNICEF looked at how materialism and inequality affected children's well being in the UK, Spain and Sweden.

These countries were chosen because children's well being was found to be lower in the UK than in the two other countries, and the researchers wanted to understand why. The results of the study revealed that UK parents spent a lot more on toys and consumer goods for their children, but less time with the family and doing outdoor activities, which the kids really reported enjoying and desiring to do more often.

The piles of toys did little to make the children in the UK truly happy.

I focused on the part of the report that talked about materialism, and was really interested in the researcher's conclusions that:

"Behind the statistics we find many UK children do not refer to material goods when talking about what makes them happy, and also understand the principles of moderation in consumption, but may have parents who feel compelled to purchase, often against their better judgement."

As we might expect, the children really showed that time with friends and family, time spent outdoors and in creative play were far more important to their happiness and well being than the excess of products and toys that parents in the UK fill their homes with!