There is widespread agreement across generations in the United Kingdom – from Gen Z to Baby Boomers – that young people’s mental health is worse than it was in the past, but they often differ on what this really means and what might be driving it, according to the results of this survey.

Key findings:

• Baby Boomers are much more likely than younger generations to put a potential rise in youth mental health problems down to increased use of drugs and alcohol, and less likely to attribute it to the increased cost of living or worse economic prospects.
• Around half of Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers believe mental health problems were just as common among young people in the past, but they just weren’t identified as mental health problems back then – higher than the four in 10 Gen Z who feel this way.
• Baby Boomers and Gen X are around twice as likely as Millennials and Gen Z to say youth mental health problems have increased because young people today are less resilient.

They survey also looks at perceptions of the impact of social media – which is often seen as a possible cause of youth mental health problems – and reveals generational differences in the perceived effects on young people’s health.

In the report of the findings, UK attitudes on all these issues are compared with attitudes in Australia, with both countries largely aligned in their views, aside from some differences.