Survey by Children's Worlds quizzed eight-year-olds on their happiness
UK children also scored low on satisfaction with their family lives and appearance but fared better on internet access and good clothes
Issues surrounding bullying in England is 'troubling', researchers say
Children in Romania are the happiest, followed by those in Poland
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Children in the UK are less happy than those in Romania, Poland and Algeria, an international study released today has revealed.
Only youngsters living in South Korea, Nepal and Ethiopia fared worse than those in England, with the country ranking 13th out of 16 countries for life satisfaction, according to the research survey by Children's Worlds.
Young people across the world took part in a questionnaire as part of the survey, and were quizzed on their family and home life, bullying, personal well-being and views on children's rights, as well as their overall happiness.
The results released this morning form part two of the three-stage survey, in which eight-year-olds in Romania, Columbia, Spain, Israel, Algeria, Turkey, Malta, Norway, Germany, South Africa, Estonia, Ethiopia, Nepal and South Korea were also quizzed about their lives.
Children in England were questioned on behalf of those in the rest of the UK, with 990 eight-year-olds taking part.
They were also asked about friendships, money and possessions, school life, the area where they live and use of their time.
When it came to over all life satisfaction, children in Romania came out on top, with youngsters on average rating their happiness as 9.08 out of 10. Poland was second with nine out of 10 and Columbia third with 8.93.
Children in England gave an average score of 8.39, below than the global average of 8.5.
But as well as the low score on life satisfaction, children in England also ranked towards the bottom of the table when it came to happiness in their family lives, coming in at 12th place with Catalonia in Spain top and Nepal bottom.
More than two thirds of English children said they feel safe at home, while on friends, England came mid-table when young people were asked if they are satisfied with their relationships.
Of all 16 countries, England did not rank any higher than eighth place for any of the questions.
When it comes to material possessions, almost all English respondents said they had access to good clothes, compared to 85 per cent in Ethiopia - and 88 per cent of British children indicated they have access to the internet, compared to just 6 per cent in Nepal.
Asked about bullying at school, a fifth of children in England said they had been hit by fellow pupils more than three times in the last month, compared to almost a quarter in Estonia and 6 per cent in South Korea.
Looking at issues around how young people see themselves, children in England came in the bottom five when asked about their appearance and body. Colombia and Romania came top.
Work on the study was carried out by researchers in the participating countries, with an invitation to other nations wanting to take part. The US was involved in the first wave of the project, which was presented in 2012 and involved eight, 10 and 12-year-olds, but not the second.
Gwyther Rees, of the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, which carried out the research in England, said: 'There are some quite troubling messages from England and the picture is quite similar to what we found with older age groups.
'Children are happy at home and with friends but less happy at school where there seems to be an issue around bullying and being left out.'
Simon Sommer, head of research at the Jacobs Foundation, which funded the work, said the project is 'groundbreaking', revealing information from the eight-year-olds' own perspectives.
He said: 'The Jacobs Foundation continues to support Children's Worlds, because we are convinced that it will deliver unique information valuable for everyone who is interested in understanding and improving the lives of children and youth.'
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