One in ten young people in Britain think life is not worth
living, a report published today has claimed.
Of 2,000 16- to 25-year-olds surveyed for the Prince’s Trust,
12% said their life was “meaningless”, whilst 14% thought “life has
no purpose”. One in five felt like crying “often” or “always” and
nearly half (47%) felt regularly stressed.
The worst affected were those not in education, employment or
training (Neets). Thirty seven per cent of Neets polled claimed to
be down or depressed compared to 27% of all those surveyed by
polling body YouGov.
No sense of community
Further reasons for unhappiness included feeling no sense of
community, not feeling safe to walk around at night and not having
anything to do. Having a dead-end job was also cited as a major
contributing factor. Prince’s Trust chief executive Martina Milburn
said the findings revealed “an increasingly vulnerable
generation”.
However, over 70% of all those surveyed and 60% of Neets said
they felt happy with life.
Personal relationships were seen as being most important to
young people’s wellbeing. Fifty six per cent cited family
relationships and 53% friendship when asked to name the most
important factors in their overall wellbeing.
Almost a third thought good emotional health was also important
to their well-being.
Recession
Money and work were also considered to be a high priority, amid
evidence that young people are likely to be hit hard by the current
recession.
Research published by the Prince’s Trust and the
University of Sheffield in November 2008 predicted that were
unemployment to reach three million this year, at least 40% of
those out of work (1.25m) would be under 25.
The Prince’s Trust also claimed youth unemployment is costing
Britain up to £1m a day in lost productivity.
The survey was published as the Prince’s Trust finalised plans
to increase the scope of its
Team programme, which provides 12-week
support schemes for unemployed young people including work
experience, community work and team-building exercises.
Mental health problems
Currently the programme aims to build self-esteem and
motivation, but from this year team leaders, who run the schemes,
will be trained in identifying mental health problems in young
people.
The Prince’s Trust says that one in five young people will
develop some kind of mental illness and many more will suffer from
a lack of confidence and poor support networks at some point in
their youth.
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