UK youths experience 'happiness recession'

More 15-year-olds are reporting low life satisfaction in Britain than almost anywhere else in Europe, amid what experts are describing as a "happiness recession" for British teenagers.

- Robert Booth

The group is at the bottom of European rankings in terms of life satisfaction across 27 nations, according to an analysis by the Children's Society.

In the UK 25% of 15-year-olds reported low life satisfaction, compared with 7% of Dutch children of the same age-the lowest level among any of the countries surveyed.

Girls and teenage children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Britain are particularly affected, with food poverty highlighted as a significant reason behind the poor well-being numbers.

"Alarm bells are ringing," said Mark Russell, the chief executive of the Children's Society. "UK teenagers are facing a happiness recession, with 15-year-olds recording the lowest life satisfaction on average across 27 European nations." In 2021-22, children aged 10 to 15 recorded mean scores for happiness with their life as a whole, as well as with their friends, appearance, school and schoolwork, that were all significantly lower than in 2009-10, the report found.