There has been a decrease in the happiness levels reported among children living in Ireland according to the latest State of the Nation Children's Report.
The report, which was published by Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman today, presents key information on children's health, behavioural and educational outcomes.
78.5% of children in 2022 reported being happy with their lives at present, which is a significant decrease from 88.2% in 2018.
The report also shows that 322 children were admitted to psychiatric hospitals or units, and child and adolescent units in 2023.
Decline in happiness
Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Colman Noctor said a number of things may be contributing to the decline in mental health among children.
"You have social media, the fallout from pandemic lockdowns and really we're seeing the first group of children that didn't grow up on the street," Dr Noctor said.
"I think that has a huge impact on their capacity for socialisation, for social fitness, mental fitness.
"We have far more adult-led activities which probably don't allow children to be more autonomous decision-makers."
Bullying, mortality and waiting lists
The report also showed a slight decrease in bullying experienced by children.
In 2022, 28.6% of children aged between the ages of 10 - 17 reported having been bullied at school in the past few months, which is a slight decrease from 31.1% in 2018.
In terms of mortality, 313 children in Ireland died in 2022, an increase from 291 in 2018.
This puts the child mortality rate at 2.57 per 10,000 children.
The report examined the number of children on in-patient or day-case waiting periods and found an increase of 32.5% between 2020 and 2023.
There has also been a 6.7% decrease in the number of births to mothers between the ages of 15 and 17, with the number dropping to 153 births.
The State of the Nation Children's Report will be used as a resource for policy-makers, the research community and civil society.
It will also be used to inform Government policy on children, young people and families.
Future image shows children playing in leaves, Alamy.
