Young people today are unhappier, less socially trusting, and more detached from society than young people historically or older people today
That’s according to a new report out today by the Onward think tank which adds that young people are three times more likely to reject democracy than their grandparents and nearly half of millennials believe that army rule would be a good way to run the country
The report says that they have fewer friends and lower quality friendships,and are less likely to volunteer or contribute to their neighbourhood.
They are more likely to suffer emotional problems at school and stress at work. And their narrowing social networks are undermining economic mobility and warns that The atomisation of youth will have profound implications if left unchecked.
The authors found that Young people’s social networks are becoming narrower over time and political values are becoming a bigger part of their identity and friendship circles – with implications for both economic mobility and political voting patterns.
A third of 18-34-year-olds say they would not be able to marry someone who supports a political party they dislike, and a quarter would not consider being friends with them, compared to 20% and 11% respectively for over 55-year-olds.
The average age at which children are being allowed out to play on their own has risen from 9 to 11 years old within the last generation, with implications for children’s social development.Children not allowed to play unsupervised are more likely to report emotional problems in childhood and loneliness in young adulthood and the 20% rise in peer-related problems in 10-15-year-olds since 2011 is strongly correlated with isolated play.
The authors found that Work-related stress, depression and anxiety has risen ten times faster among 18-34-year-olds than among over-35-year-olds since 2006.
Meanwhile the proportion of 18-34-yearolds saying they feel “used up” at the end of the working day has increased by 44% since 1992, compared to 32% among older groups. Put
simply, the changing nature of work appears to be changing the nature of society.
Finally they say Over a third of 18-34-year-olds (36%) say they have more friends online than in real life, and these young adults are twice as likely to report loneliness and think army rule would be a good way to run the country as those who have more friends in real life than online.
Meanwhile, 28% of young people spend over 4 hours a day on social media and 30% spend the same amount of time playing video games. When they do meet friends in real life, young people are twiceas likely to stay in watching television than go to the pub or out playing sports.
To counter the growing support for authoritarianism, Onward suggested establishing a “national civic service” along the lines of AmeriCorps in the US or the Service Civique in France, signing young people up for civic missions such as teaching disadvantaged children or environmental action.
The think tank also called for employment law to be changed to protect time off so people could volunteer for organisations such as St John’s Ambulance or military cadets, and developing a national network of “play clubs” to allow children to play unsupervised and develop their interpersonal skills.
