The State of the World's Children 2021

This report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) analyzes child, adolescent, and caregiver mental health, exploring the risk factors and social determinants that shape mental health outcomes for youth worldwide. This year’s report examines mental health for the first time, highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the concerns it raised for children’s mental health, a long-ignored global health issue. As the COVID-19 crisis disrupted the lives, routines, and security of millions around the world, resulting in increased anxiety and stress for many youths, this report describes a number of additional factors that largely influence poor mental health outcomes for children.

The report estimates that 86 million adolescents aged 15-19 live with a diagnosed mental disorder, along with 80 million adolescents aged 10-14. Mental health conditions continue to represent a huge burden on children in high- and low-income countries, representing a leading cause of death and disability. Globally, suicide is the fifth most prevalent cause of death for adolescents between 10 and 19. The report emphasizes that despite growing demand for mental health support for youth, government investment remains very low, with global spending on mental health representing only 2.1 percent of government health budgets on average. Additional challenges in addressing mental health include widespread stigma, lack of parental support and programs, and gaps in workforce training for youth mental health. The report finds that the risk and protective factors influencing children’s mental health pertain to three main areas: home and caregiving settings, safety in schools and communities, and large-scale determinants, such as poverty, conflict, and natural disasters. The authors call for interventions and policy approaches that commit to minimizing risks for children throughout their development and working across sectors to support families, communities, and schools in protecting and promoting mental health for children and adolescents worldwide.

Chapters include:

• Chapter 1: Mental Health
• Chapter 2: The Foundation
• Chapter 3: Risk and Protection
• Chapter 4: The World at Large
• Chapter 5: What is Being Done
• Chapter 6: A Framework for Action

The report is accompanied by an executive summary, regional briefs for Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as an interactive data portal exploring key data for countries included in the report.

Launched in 1980, The State of the World’s Children is the most comprehensive analysis of global trends affecting children. Each year, this flagship publication by UNICEF examines a key issue affecting children across the globe, and provides up-to-date and accessibly presented economic and social statistics on the countries and territories of the world, with particular reference to children’s well-being. All previous reports are made publicly available on UNICEF’s website and can be read in multiple languages.