Young people in the UK have the poorest mental wellbeing in the world – with the exception of Japan – and list money, getting on in life and the rise of terrorism among their greatest concerns, according to an international survey of 20,000 youngsters.
The study ranks the UK 19th out of 20 countries in its survey of wellbeing, with young people in the UK aged 15-21 lagging behind comparable cohorts in France and Germany, as well as those in countries such as Israel, Turkey, Russia and China.
Indonesia, India and Nigeria scored highest on the wellbeing scale, with scores of 56.2, 54.4 and 53.9 respectively (the highest possible score being 70), whereas Japan scored the lowest at 41.3, followed by the UK (47.3), New Zealand (47.6) and Australia (47.9).
The report was compiled by the Varkey Foundation education charity and used the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing measure, which asks respondents whether they feel optimistic, confident, loved, and interested in other people. The results found a significantly greater sense of wellbeing among young people in emerging economies compared to those in Europe, North America and Australasia.
Extremism and the rise of global terrorism was the issue that made young people in the UK more fearful for the future than any other factor (83%) – a position shared by young people in 13 of the 20 countries, though young Chinese people who took part in the survey identified climate change as their greatest concern.
The report, called What the World’s Young People Think and Feel, compares the experiences of teenagers and adults known as Generation Z, who were born around the turn of the millennium in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the US, as well as the UK.
It is thought to be the first international comparative study of the attitudes of young people on this scale.
Source : The Guardian
