Three out of five young people regularly feel stressed amid concerns over jobs and money, a study shows.
Research by The Prince’s Trust found that young people aged 16 to 25 are the unhappiest generation in a decade, with one in four feeling ‘hopeless’ on a regular basis, and nearly half having experienced a mental health problem.
The poll of nearly 2,200 young people found a fall in their levels of happiness and confidence in their emotional health, which have now dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded in the study which began nine years ago.
Nick Stace, UK chief executive of The Prince’s Trust, said: ‘It should ring alarm bells for us all that young people are feeling more despondent about their emotional health than ever before.
‘This is a generation rapidly losing faith in their ability to achieve their goals in life, who are increasingly wary of and disillusioned with the jobs market and at risk of leaving a wealth of untapped potential in their wake.
‘One of the most important things we can do to stem this flow is to show young people that it’s worth having high aspirations, that opportunities to earn a good living and progress in a career are out there and that they’ll be supported along the way to live, learn and earn.
‘For this to happen, it is vital that government, charities and employers across the UK invest more in developing young people’s skills and in providing opportunities for them to progress in fulfilling, sustainable careers.’
The charity’s ‘Macquarie Youth Index’, which gauges wellbeing across areas from family relationships to working life, found the happiness young people experience in relation to emotional health has fallen from 61 to 57 in a year.
This four point fall is the biggest drop in any area attributed to wellbeing ever recorded by the index, and is a score which has fallen considerably since 2010, when it stood at 70, according to the organisation.
The report also found that 42 per cent of young people think they put too much pressure on themselves to achieve success, and 28 per cent would not ask for help if they were feeling overwhelmed by something.
But almost two thirds of young people (61 per cent) agree that having a job gives – or would give – them a sense of purpose, and half (49 per cent) think that having a job is good for their mental health.
The study also found that one in ten young people are not in employment, education or training (Neet) and more than half of this group (58 per cent) have been Neet for six months or more.