Pessimistic and fearful: survey shows UK youth in bleak mood

Extremism and the rise of global terrorism is their single biggest fear
Shutterstock / Axel Bueckert
Pippa Crerar8 February 2017

Young people in the UK rank 19th out of 20 countries in a major international study of mental wellbeing.

The survey found that only 15 per cent of British 15- to 21-year-olds felt that they got enough sleep, exercise, rest and time for reflection.

More than half of young people here cited money as one of their top three causes of anxiety. However, their single biggest fear for the future was extremism and the rise of global terrorism.

Only four in 10 youngsters described themselves as happy with their lives — much lower than the seven in 10 average for the other countries surveyed.

Only Japanese youngsters came lower in the rankings of overall wellbeing. India and Indonesia topped the list.

But the study of 20,000 young people published by educational body the Varkey Foundation also found more than two-thirds in the UK thought their country was a good place to live.

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Varkey’s chief executive Vikas Pota said: “Young people are passionate believers in the right to live the life that they choose. However, they are a generation that is deeply pessimistic about the future of the world.”

Among London youngsters nearly twice as many thought the world was becoming worse rather than better.

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