05 Jan Youth and happiness
Young unemployed adults need more help to deal with mental health problems, the Prince’s Trust charity has warned.
One in 10 youngsters questioned in a survey disagreed that “life was really worth living”. Those not in work or education were less likely to be happy.
Polling company YouGov questioned 2,004 people aged 16-25 online in October.
Paul Brow, of the Prince’s Trust, said the study showed there were thousands of young people who “desperately” needed support.
He added: “Often young people who feel they have reached rock bottom don’t know where to turn for help.”
Of those questioned, 29% said they are less happy now than they were as a child and one in five said they felt like crying “often” or “always”.
Almost half (47%) said they were regularly stressed. Young people tell us that family is key to their happiness, yet too often we find they don’t have this crucial support
Martina Milburn, Prince’s Trust
The feelings of negativity among those who took part in the survey were higher among those not in work, education or training.
Young people who had left school but did not have a job or a place on a training course were twice as likely to feel that their life had no purpose.
Key to levels of happiness, were relationships with family and friends, although health, money and work were also important.
The Prince’s Trust says it plans to train all its frontline staff to recognise mental health problems in what it calls an increasingly vulnerable generation.
Chief executive Martina Milburn said: “Young people tell us that family is key to their happiness, yet too often we find they don’t have this crucial support.
“At the Prince’s Trust we help vulnerable young people, steering them away from false support systems such as drugs, alcohol and dangerous gangs and providing them with a sense of purpose again.”
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