What the UNICEF well-being measure looks at
UNICEF's Report Card 19 compares the condition of children in 43 OECD and EU countries on three dimensions: mental health, physical health and skills. The top three overall are the Netherlands, Denmark and France.
The six main indicators behind the ranking are life satisfaction, adolescent suicide, child mortality, overweight, academic achievement and social skills. So the Netherlands' high place is not a ranking that assesses school lessons alone. It brings together indicators that concern children's lives as a whole.
Dutch academic data show both strengths and challenges
In the Dutch results for PISA 2025, published in September 2026, maths and science were at the same level as in 2022, and reading fell further. Reading is below the EU14 average, and the share of students who do not reach the basic level is 39% in reading, 30% in maths and 27% in science.
At the same time, according to a University of Twente report, only 9 of the 91 participating countries and regions rank above the Netherlands in maths, which is a strong position. Students' average life satisfaction is 7.6, up from 7.3 in 2022.
It would be wrong to conclude either that a country with high well-being automatically has high academic results, or that falling academic results make the well-being assessment meaningless.
The two sets of data do not contradict each other
| UNICEF Report Card 19 | PISA | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it covers | The condition of children and adolescents | 15-year-old students |
| What it looks at | Mental health, physical health, skills | Whether knowledge and skills can be applied in maths, reading and science |
| How to use it | To see the state of life as a whole | To see academic strengths and challenges |
Different measures giving different results is not a contradiction. At home, too, it is easier to understand the situation if you check test scores and your child's condition separately rather than folding them into one number.
Even with high well-being, school strain is a challenge
In the Netherlands, strain from schoolwork is also reported as a challenge. According to the Nederlands Jeugdinstituut (NJi) summary, in 2023, 44.6% of secondary-school students felt pressure from schoolwork. In 2001 the figure was about 16%.
The share also tends to rise with age: 36.2% at age 12 and 51.3% at age 16. It differs by school level as well. Researchers have suggested that learning delays caused by COVID-19 may have accelerated a longer-term trend towards emphasising school results. This is set out in the Utrecht University announcement.
In other words, even in a country with a high well-being rating, children do not necessarily feel free of strain from studying. Rather than being reassured by a well-being ranking alone, it is important to check how your own child is doing.
Five things to check at home
| Item | What to check |
|---|---|
| Understanding | Can your child explain lesson content and homework in their own words? |
| Progress | Is there something they can do better than before? Look beyond scores, for example at reading speed or how they structure writing |
| Strain | Is the amount of study squeezing sleep, meals or school life? |
| Initiative | Can they ask about things they do not understand, or start work themselves? |
| Sustainability | Is the amount one that can be kept up for weeks or months, rather than a short burst of overwork? |
What to check before adding tutoring
When grades fall, adding more lessons straight away does not necessarily solve the problem. What is needed differs depending on whether the content is not understood, the workload is too heavy, there is a language barrier, or the child does not know how to study.
Even when learning support is needed, setting a narrow purpose makes it easier to keep the strain on the child down. For example, reviewing only writing once a week, sorting out only maths word problems, or making a plan only before exams.
What Petra Tutors cares about
At Petra Tutors, we do not treat more lesson time as a goal in itself. We combine a teacher who suits your child, the support actually needed, and progress sharing with parents.
What we want to learn from the Dutch data is not to idealise a happiness ranking as it stands. It is the attitude of looking at a child's learning through several sources of information, rather than through grades alone or mood alone.
Summary
The Netherlands is rated very highly for child well-being, yet PISA 2025 shows academic challenges, such as a continuing decline in reading. Many students also feel burdened by schoolwork.
These are not contradictions; they measure different things. At home, too, checking grades, understanding, strain, initiative and daily condition separately makes it easier to choose the support needed more accurately.
References
- UNICEF Innocenti | Child Well-Being in an Unpredictable World (Report Card 19)
- PISA Nederland | Resultaten PISA 2025
- University of Twente | De nieuwe PISA-cijfers: leerlingprestaties in exacte vakken gelijk gebleven, leesvaardigheid verder gedaald
- Nederlands Jeugdinstituut | Cijfers over prestatiedruk
- Utrecht University | Forse verslechtering mentale gezondheid meisjes (HBSC 2021)
