UK teenagers’ place in European happiness rankings makes grim reading

British teenagers ranked least happy for second year in a row

However, the UK is also a top charting country when it comes to teenagers’ life satisfaction and overall happiness. 

Around one in five 15 year-olds have reported low life satisfaction, placing the UK last in Europe when comparing metrics.

This is the second year in a row that the UK finds itself dead last out of 29 European countries, according to new statistics. 

The worrying findings come from a report by the Children’s Society, an OECD PISA survey conducted through roughly 200,000 teenagers aged 15 years throughout the continent.

Around 18% of British teenagers recorded an average score of 6.73 out of 10 in overall happiness measurements. 

The UK comes in at the bottom of the charts, with only Germany and Czechia showing higher proportions of low life satisfaction scores among their teenage populations.

However, this isn’t a sign of doom for the future generation. 

Despite consistently showing low figures of happiness, the numbers show that overall life satisfaction for teenagers in the UK is growing since 2022. 

Nevertheless, the Children’s Society shared that the latest findings call for greater actions in improving the wellbeing of 15 year-olds.

“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,” said Children’s Society CEO, Mark Russell.

“This isn’t a one off. It’s a pattern, and it should be a wake-up call.”

Last year’s report by Good Childhood found that 9% of kids and young adults, aged ten to 17, showed unfavourable scores of life satisfaction and overall wellbeing.

What are the main causes of low life satisfaction?

A leading reason for the gloomy findings is said to originate from education.

Around one in nine youngsters, about 11.1%, report being unhappy with school as a whole, while 43% say academic pressure plays a vital role with fears of getting bad grades. 

Another intriguing metric reports that one in five girls felt unhappy with their appearance and looks. 

Four in 10 teenagers say they are worried of increasing prices, while 38% showed concerts about overall crime.

Overall, life satisfaction derives from a myriad of areas, but predominantly and consistently relates to family, friends, appearances, and school, which the findings show scores have improved since 2022.

The teenagers that participated in the survey also reported growing feelings of isolation in their communities, with limited spaces to socialise.

Researchers linked a greater reliance on social media as a primary driver for this growing feeling amongst teenagers, as many seek online for a sense of community and belonging.