UK was named unhappiest country for children in 2024. Are youth in the rest of Europe any happier?

Europe, particularly the EU, is regarded as one of the most prosperous regions in the world. Yet, despite this prosperity, many young people within its borders are facing a growing decline in well-being, with increasing concerns about mental health.

The Children’s Society, a UK-based charity, released a report this year looking into the well-being of young people in the UK and how they compare to those in Europe. 

The 2024 Good Childhood Report found that, on average, 16.6 per cent of European youth are dissatisfied with their lives, which is equivalent to about one in six across the continent. 

The Netherlands had the lowest rate, with only 6.7 per cent of 15-year-olds reporting not being satisfied with their lives.  

Similarly, Nordic countries Finland and Denmark also ranked well, with only 10.8 per cent and 11.3 per cent reporting low life satisfaction respectively.

On the other hand, the UK reported the highest level of low life satisfaction among young people, with 25.2 per cent indicating dissatisfaction, followed closely by Poland (24.4 per cent) and Malta (23.6 per cent).

"The findings from The Good Childhood Report 2024 are alarming and illustrate an unacceptable picture of children’s wellbeing in the UK. It clearly shows that young people in the UK are experiencing lower well-being and life satisfaction compared to their peers across Europe, and that the well-being of young people is also in decline," Jack O’Neill, policy and public affairs manager at The Children’s Society, told Euronews Health.

The report used data from various sources to analyse youth life satisfaction, including the UK Longitudinal Household Survey, The Children’s Society’s annual survey, and the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). 

Why are UK children the unhappiest in Europe?

"When looking at specific measures, we can see that the UK performs notably worse than other European countries. Whilst not any single factor can explain the low ranking overall when particular areas score so poorly, it does suggest their importance in driving this," O’Neill said. 

The UK also showed the largest gap in life satisfaction between advantaged and disadvantaged youth, which could point to the impact of socio-economic inequality on children's well-being.

Additionally, the report revealed that the UK ranked fourth highest in food deprivation, with 11 per cent of 15-year-olds skipping meals due to a lack of money.

"We also know that the cost-of-living crisis in the UK is impacting the opportunities for young people to have downtime or enjoy socialising with friends or family," O’Neill said.   

Many families in the UK reported difficulties in affording holidays, extracurricular activities for their children, and, in some cases, even celebrations and special occasions, with 41 per cent saying they couldn’t afford such events.

Additionally, 50 per cent of children reported that a lack of money prevented them from participating in activities like socialising or going on school trips.

Beyond financial limitations, children also expressed significant worries about various life issues, particularly the rising cost of living in the UK.

"Two in five children and young people surveyed were worried about rising prices, showing that concerns over making ends meet are filtering down to young people and increasing their worry and concern," O’Neill said.

Along with rising prices, children were also concerned about crime, online safety, and environmental issues.

Moreover, school-related issues have also played a significant role in the declining well-being of children in the UK. In 2024, 14.3 per cent of young people reported being unsatisfied with their school experience.

Concerns around school safety, a sense of belonging, and bullying, of which the UK had the second-highest rate in Europe, are some of the key issues, according to O’Neill.

"We know from international comparison data, and from talking to children and young people, that bullying and the pressures of academic achievement play on children’s minds," he said. 

"School should be an opportunity for young people to make lifelong memories, find their inspiration, make friends and have hope for the future, unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case for some children, and it is crucial we not only unlock every child’s potential but also unlock their happiness," O’Neill added.

Amid the decline in mental health among young people in the UK, the country is also facing significant challenges in providing adequate mental health support. 

According to the report, over 270,000 children are still waiting for further assistance after an initial referral, with long waiting times being a major issue.

Reflecting on the concerns raised by young people during policy consultations, "they told us how school makes them worried as they are anxious about exams, worried about failing and not hopeful for the future," O’Neill noted.

"They said how parks are being shut down meaning they have nowhere to hang out with their friends; how support for their mental health can only be sought when they have reached a crisis point and that their voices are silenced and they don’t feel heard".

Key causes of declining well-being in Europe

Although the report focuses on the UK, similar trends are being seen across Europe, with reports indicating a decline in well-being among young people in several countries.

According to UNICEF, the percentage of 15-year-olds reporting high life satisfaction dropped from around 74 per cent in 2018 to 69 per cent in 2022, across 23 countries for which data is available.

One of the key contributing factors include high rates of poverty, with approximately 20 million children in the EU, about one in four, at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to a report by UNICEF. 

"It [poverty] has a long term impact on children. It's not just a child living in poverty, and as soon as they grow up and get a job they will be out of it. It affects their bodies, their mind and their prospects as well for the future," Dr Ally Dunhill, director of policy, advocacy and communications at Eurochild, told Euronews Health. 

According to Dunhill, children growing up in poverty often struggle to afford basic necessities like food, clothing, school supplies, or sports equipment, which limits their participation in normal childhood activities and leads to social isolation.

Poverty also takes a toll on mental health, with children living in poverty more likely to experience stress, anxiety, and depression. 

Moreover, poor nutrition is another critical issue tied to poverty, as families often have easier access to cheap, less nutritious food, which negatively impacts children's physical health both in the short and long-term.

Dunhill further noted that poverty deeply impacts children's ability to engage in school.

"Those children are really not engaging in education, some of them are not even going to school, or they are going to school but they are so tired, or they’re so cold, or they’re so hungry, they may not be able to sit and learn and listen and engage," she said.

This lack of educational engagement sets children back and reduces their chances of escaping poverty in the future, creating a cycle where children raised in poverty are more likely to remain poor as adults.

"The expectation is if we don't do something to lift and support these children out of poverty, then they will grow up and have children that will be living in poverty," Dunhill said. 

Moreover, the rising costs of food, housing, and heating, along with job losses and health challenges, are also pushing even more families in Europe into poverty.

Online safety and children's well-being

According to Unicef, when it comes to online safety in Europe, children face various risks in digital spaces, including cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, misinformation, and sexual exploitation, all of which can severely harm their well-being.

Fabiola Bas Palomares, lead policy and advocacy officer at Eurochild, who specialises in online safety, told Euronews Health that while the effects of online usage are complex to measure, the negative impacts of digital media on children, such as addiction, isolation, and reduced social confidence, are undeniable.

Although content moderation tools have made some progress in reducing harmful content, she said the focus should shift to how these platforms are designed.

"These online platforms, their business model heavily relies on maximising the engagement of the user, and they use popularity metrics that are super pervasive for children," Bas Palomares said. 

She further emphasised the need to prioritise children's online safety from the beginning by embedding it into the platform's design rather than trying to fix issues after harm is done.

"I think the focus needs to be on changing that dynamic to ensure that while business models operate, in that meantime children's rights are preserved". 

However, she also acknowledged that even with these changes, issues like cyberbullying and sexual abuse will still require targeted regulations and specialised tools to effectively address them.

Role of government and policy-makers

To address the growing concerns around children's well-being, O'Neill emphasised the need for government action. 

Some key measures he advocates for include ensuring that young people have access to early intervention and preventative mental health support, making children's well-being a national priority, introducing a Child Poverty Act to guarantee that no family lacks basic necessities, and reforming school environments to reduce anxiety and bullying while enhancing meaningful learning experiences.

Dunhill said that while there are promising initiatives from EU policymakers, such as the European Child Guarantee, which aims to combat child poverty and social exclusion, many national action plans struggle with implementation. 

A major issue is that many governments fail to engage with civil society organisations or children themselves when developing these plans, she said. 

"How does the government know that they are being successful in implementing these projects to lift children out of poverty and social exclusion when they're not asking the very individuals, the very civil society organisations, who are working with those children in those areas," Dunhill said. 

She added that this lack of engagement, combined with weak monitoring mechanisms, makes it difficult to evaluate whether these programs could effectively help children.