British teenagers named unhappiest in Europe for the second time running

British teenagers named unhappiest in Europe for the second time running New research has exposed the pressures facing young people, with school, money and wider worries weighing heavily on their wellbeing as The Children's Society calls for action British teenagers have been ranked the unhappiest in Europe for the second time running, according to new stats. Youngsters in the UK came bottom of 29 European countries for life satisfaction, with almost one in five reporting low levels of happiness. The worrying findings come from an analysis by The Children’s Society of the latest OECD PISA survey, which covered almost 200,000 15-year-olds across Europe. UK youngsters recorded an average life satisfaction score of just 6.73 out of 10 - placing the country at the foot of the European table. Almost one in five 15-year-olds in the UK, 18%, were classed as having low life satisfaction than in every other European country other than Czechia and Germany who recorded a higher proportion of teenagers reporting low satisfaction with their lives. Despite the UK’s overall score improving since the previous PISA survey in 2022, British youngsters have remained at the bottom of the rankings for the second survey in a row. The Children’s Society said the latest findings called for action to improve young people’s wellbeing. Mark Russell, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, said: “For the second time running, young people in the UK are telling us they are less satisfied with their lives than teenagers anywhere else in Europe. This isn’t a one off. It’s a pattern, and it should be a wake-up call.” The latest analysis follows years of warnings over the wellbeing of children and teenagers across the country. Last year’s Good Childhood Report, also published by The Children’s Society, found 9% of UK children aged 10 to 17 had low wellbeing. The stats proved school emerged as a major source of unhappiness, with more than one in nine youngsters - 11.1% - saying they were unhappy with school. As well as academic pressure also weighing heavily on children, with 43% saying they worried about getting good grades at school or college. Concerns stretched beyond the classroom. Four in 10 youngsters said they worried about rising prices, while 38% were concerned about crime. Researchers also found signs that children’s happiness had deteriorated over the longer term. Average happiness with life overall, family, friends, appearance, school and schoolwork was significantly lower in 2022/23 than when the long-running survey began in 2009/10. Girls were found to be less happy on average than boys with several areas of their lives, including life overall, family, appearance and school. Appearance was a particular concern among girls, with more than one in five - 21.2% - saying they were unhappy with how they looked. Young people consulted for the report also spoke about feeling isolated in their communities and a lack of opportunities and spaces to socialise, which researchers linked to a greater reliance on digital interactions that sees youngsters looking online for a sense of community and belonging.