Unhappy Children

 The number of 10- to 15-year-olds who say they are not happy rose from 173,000 (3.8%) in 2009-10 to an estimated 306,000 (6.7%) in 2018-19, the Children’s Society found. That 6.7% – one in every 15 young people – is the highest proportion in the last decade, it said.

The charity lamented the “significant decline in children’s happiness over the decade”

Mark Russell, its chief executive, said: “It’s deeply distressing to see that children’s wellbeing is on a 10-year downward trend and on top of this a number of children have not coped well with the pandemic. Unhappiness at this stage can be a warning sign of potential issues in later teenage years.” 

The Children’s Society added warned that children who are unhappy with their lives at the age of 14 are “significantly more likely” than their peers to display symptoms of mental ill-health by the time they reach 17 or to have self-harmed or tried to take their own life. Young people with low life satisfaction at 14 should be helped to build relationships and avoid being bullied to avoid descent into mental illness, it advised. 

Tom Madders, director of campaigns at the mental health charity Young Minds, said: “It is shocking to see a further decline in children and young people’s level of happiness and that thousands are unhappy with their lives overall.

Number of UK children unhappy with their lives rises – report | Children | The Guardian