The youth in the UK are experiencing a ‘happiness recession,’ reporting lowest levels of life satisfaction than anywhere else in Europe.
Among 15-year-olds in the UK, levels of low life satisfaction were at least twice as high as compared to their peers in Finland, Denmark, Romania, Portugal, Croatia and Hungary, an analysis by The Children’s Society found.
Mark Russell, chief executive at The Children’s Society, said: “Alarm bells are ringing, with UK teenagers facing a happiness recession. Equally alarming is the high level of food poverty found among these young people. The UK ranks fourth highest for food poverty among 15-year-olds across 21 European countries, underscoring the severe impacts of societal inequalities on their wellbeing.’
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The Society’s report comes amid growing concern about school absences, long NHS waiting times to receive mental health support and increases in the cost of living in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis pushing more families into poverty.
The charity has called for ‘decisive action and national leadership from the new Government to overturn the decline in children’s wellbeing’. The report includes concrete steps to address these national challenges and a proposed ‘roadmap’ to prioritise children’s wellbeing.
Responding to this report, a government spokesperson assured that they were taking action to improve the life chances of every child.
They said: ‘We will develop an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, led by a taskforce co-chaired by the Education Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary, looking at how to increase household income, bring down essential costs, and tackle the negative experience of living in poverty. This comes alongside plans to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.’