UK teens the most unhappy in Europe

[coffeeandteav]

www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/29/uk-teenagers-low-life-satisfaction-europe

Why is this? Many reasons discussed in the media today. What do you think has caused this?

I can say as a teacher and having a 16 year old it is sadly very true.

Lots of suggestions some sensible others not so much.
Why are we different to Europe? They have video games and tech. So what is it?

1.	The weather lack of vit d. ( thats not new though)
2.	Rise of the nuclear family. No more it takes a village..... Europe has more involvement with extended families.
3.	Loss of youth clubs. Apparently they have them in Germany and its cheap and relaxed.
4.	Too many organised activities kids can't be bored anymore and all their time is structured.
5.	Cost of living and see the pressure on their parents so no hope for things being better than them.
6.	Strict army style school system vs 90s uk and Europe.Blazer uniforms even if hot. Screamed at if have a coat on in the corridor, silent corridors.  Toilet control.
7.	Affordable houses, some parents can't even afford to buy.
8.	Brexit knock on effect of costs and schemes such as erasmus being defunct.
9.	Lack of resilience and entitlement here in UK.
10.	Helicopter parents and mollycoddling . Kirsey Allsopp highlighted this. A Dutch lady said kids walk to school at 8 in Holland. Apparently since M.Mcann as a nation we are more fearful ( don't know how true)
11.	Nursery from 9 hours a day. Does this happen abroad?
12.	Sewage in water ( that would be adults too though)
13.	Too much homework. 
14.	The diet.
15.15.	Constant media input about the poor pensioners eg. The vast majority of pensioners are richer than the childs parents. ( obviously a lot are not but a high portion are) so shows a lack of understanding for youth. 
16.	Underfunding health and mental heath services.

All of the above? Some of the above?

Anymore?

We need to tackle the level of unemployment. All else is just window dressing.

This. A lot.

^15.15. Constant media input about the poor pensioners eg. The vast majority of pensioners are richer than the childs parents. ( obviously a lot are not but a high portion are) so shows a lack of understanding for youth.

I doubt most teenagers care or think about pensioners, I didn't! I'd give the stringent COVID lockdowns as a reason but presume that applies to the whole of Europe.

Smartphones and social media.

Jonathan Haidt has done a lot of research into this, lots of charts showing the connection. He has a book on it.

Brief outline in his video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w6NfPHrVilc

@Nuggetnuggety I know the Sutton Trust and IFS say social mobility is more difficult now but it’s also true that uni education has been offered to 6 times more young people than it wax in 1970. I guess the big argument is has that stalled? Are there actually jobs available to allow for social mobility? One big question no one asks is - do the lower social classes actually want to move “up”? They might prefer living in their community but with less material wealth? Are we certain the lower classes are the least happy?

I do think that dc need expert guidance in careers and how to get them, and going to uni, isn’t the only route to happiness. Sometimes pushing and pushing to improve isn’t suitable for all.

My comment about paying “tax” referred to the days pre loans and the grad tax. The working classes and all tax payers paid for a small minority to go to uni. They didn’t go and their dc rarely went, with the huge expansion of the uni sector, it wasn’t fair to continue with funding degrees via general taxation, so we moved to loans and a payment scheme based on earnings. This certainly has helped poorer dc access uni. I don’t think there’s much debate about that.

I think the housing crisis has hit us because people have moved out of traditional communities and also the lack of law and order and policing of communities. Many places I have worked and lived in are just not safe for children.

We need to tackle the level of unemployment. All else is just window dressing.

Unemployment isn’t low though.

You are talking about the economically inactive who aren’t looking for work. If you reduced the numbers down to pre pandemic levels & got those people into work there still aren’t enough workers…

True. The best bits of being a teen for me was all the unbelievable music we had in the 90s.

We don't celebrate success in the UK. High earners are looked down on, people on big houses. If you don't have a culture of success that filters down. Ditto doing well in school is mocked.

Very sedentary, indoor lifestyle. Terrible diet.

I know the Sutton Trust and IFS say social mobility is more difficult now

So you disagree with them?

but it’s also true that uni education has been offered to 6 times more young people than it wax in 1970

Of course it’s increased, there was a huge government drive to get young people to go to university, access was widened & as I said more jobs require degrees now. I’m sure far more young people have GCSEs and A-levels vs the equivalent in older generations because things do change.

This certainly has helped poorer dc access uni. I don’t think there’s much debate about that.

But you are the one who said social mobility has improved because more dc go to university?

True. The best bits of being a teen for me was all the unbelievable music we had in the 90s.

And the fantastic fashion/high street.

One big question no one asks is - do the lower social classes actually want to move “up”? They might prefer living in their community but with less material wealth? Are we certain the lower classes are the least happy?

I haven’t mentioned class, I talked about relative poverty. I definitely think there is a link between that and mental health. And of course there are differences between healthy life expectancy in deprived areas vs less deprived areas.

“Female healthy life expectancy at birth in the most deprived areas was 19.3 years less than in the least deprived areas in 2018 to 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). For males it was 18.6 years less.”

I think that would make me unhappy!

This also came with positive social connections. Going shopping with friends. The focus was on getting something and going out together. Not posting a social media picture to be judged.

I'm not sure how much of your comparison is just a about different time as opposed to a different place. Your experience resonates with my experience of a UK childhood.

Yes, I spent so much time in changing rooms with friends trying on outfits, experimenting. Good times 😁

I think social media and feeling unsafe in loads of places/situations due to knife crime means a lot of teens are scared a lot of the time, which is an awful way to grow up.

Anymore…

Yes, in some cases. poor, ineffective parenting.
Lack of skills, knowledge, engagement, effort, responsibility and accountability. Blame others rather than yourself.

Caused through lack of services to support parents to know how to parent, to understand child development and how to best meet a child’s needs.
Caused by too many parents, too engaged with SM and not enough with their child.
Caused by drug and alcohol abuse, frequent change of partners, family breakdown.
Caused by lack of resilience, respect and ambition.

Mental health, drug addiction, homelessness and crime issues are fairly rife in the area of London we live in and this provokes anxiety in (sometimes) me and (often) my teen. I am resilient and streetwise but she is not really, so it is worse for her. I see the world through her eyes now and it is scary and unpredictable. Just going to the shops can be a minefield, avoiding people begging, shouting, fighting etc.
I also barely know a family without a teen with an SEN suspicion or diagnosis. I still don’t believe this was as prevalent when we were younger, nor do I believe it is just down to more recognition or knowledge about the conditions. Something is going on here that we are yet to unearth.
Lockdown played a part in this, am sure. My autistic DD struggled even more with the secondary transition than she would have done otherwise. And most secondary schools are shit in the U.K. in my experience and not fit for purpose. My DD has been traumatised by the first one we sent her to which was officially ‘outstanding’. One year in a different environment and I can see her mental health (slowly) healing but the original choice school genuinely made her physically and mentally ill. Agree with technology and diet and exercise. Need to do more about that, it’s easy not to.

Yes, in some cases. poor, ineffective parenting.

This always existed though & the bar is much lower now.

Kids are studying for the GCSEs at 15 - way too much pressure

@Nuggetnuggety I think life expectancy can be down to what you sound your money on. Smoking is a good example. Healthy lifestyles - which can be free. I get relative poverty but it’s not new either! Years ago we did know who had more. However most didn’t care that much. I didn’t know my place and did care. However I still didn’t get depressed ones it. I just vowed to get a job that earned reasonably well. DH was way more driven!

Have a look at other European school systems - not exactly stress free!

They’re definitely a lot of pressure on parents/families and only a finite amount of time. My dc do a lot of sport & play dates which I think is good for their well-being, it was for mine. It’s not cheap though & its one reason I work p/t to facilitate those things so I have enough time. I can’t wfh though, DH is hybrid so he can facilitate when I’m at work. I’m not sure how 2 f/t parents with commutes manage it particularly with more than 1 dc.

I can see the connection with the points OP raised. I also wonder if sky-rocketing house prices has also had a much more detrimental effect long term in the UK, as families are priced out of of their communities and forced to live further away from family? I can’t help but wonder if this erosion of traditional family structures has caused further isolation, which then leads to depression and other mental health issues.

I think life expectancy can be down to what you sound your money on. Smoking is a good example. Healthy lifestyles - which can be free. I get relative poverty but it’s not new either! Years ago we did know who had more. However most didn’t care that much. I didn’t know my place and did care. However I still didn’t get depressed ones it. I just vowed to get a job that earned reasonably well. DH was way more driven!

Are you one of those people who blame the poor for their actions? There are socio economic factors with poverty so I don’t think it’s as simple are you say.

I never said relative poverty was new? I said it had increased for children and younger people, I’m unsure of your point?

“That means 4.2 million children (29% of all UK children) were in poverty - up from 3.6 million in 2010-11.”

I just thought an increase in dc in relative poverty may be meaningful in a debate about why UK dc are unhappy.