English Youth Friendlessness Increases Fivefold Since 2014, Research Reveals

The prevalence of young people without close friends has increased fivefold since 2014, reflecting the impact of a challenging environment shaped by austerity policies, the COVID-19 pandemic, and social media influence.

Recent research presents a concerning portrait of growing loneliness and isolation among 11- to 24-year-olds in England, revealing a state of disconnection from themselves, their peers, and broader society.

“Young people in England are experiencing a dramatic increase in isolation from one another, with one in 20 now reporting that they have no close friends at all, compared to one in 100 in 2014,” according to a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank titled “the loneliest generation.”

Among 16- to 21-year-olds specifically, the proportion with at least three close friends has also declined significantly. The number reporting having that many friends dropped from 85% in 2012-14 to 72% in 2023-25, the IPPR found.

The report challenged the notion that today’s generation lacks resilience compared to previous generations. Instead, it identified youth club closures, unaffordable housing, the popularity of TikTok, and declining self-esteem among young people as contributing factors to the sharp decline in their mental wellbeing.

Young people’s relationships also appear weaker than before. The proportion of 14- and 15-year-olds who reported being completely or very happy with their friendships declined from 86% to 76% between 2012-14 and 2023-25.

“The foundations of a healthy adolescence have eroded. A generation is coming of age affected by a digital childhood, the pandemic, and the decline of services and spaces that once helped them navigate the transition to adulthood,” the report stated.

Simultaneously, young people’s transition to adulthood has been hindered, prolonging their childhood. “Traditional indicators of early adulthood are all occurring much later, leaving young people in a longer, emptier, and more precarious adolescence,” the IPPR noted.

According to the report, home ownership and renting have become increasingly difficult, with the average age of a first-time buyer now 34 and nearly one in five young people spending half of their income on rent.

The reduced number of 16- to 24-year-olds starting apprenticeships and the growth of “Neets”—young adults not in education, employment, or training—have also prevented them from becoming independent adults.

“Ever more young people are stuck in limbo: they are no longer children yet unable to access adult life,” the report added.

“Kids aren’t snowflakes. This is a rational response to a bleak world we have left for them,” said Avnee Morjaria, an associate director with the think-tank.

“We have stripped away too many of the places, services, and routes into adulthood that help young people build confidence, connection, and hope,” she said.

The IPPR based its findings on interviews with 150 young people and analysis of official data, including the National Centre for Social Research’s Understanding Society dataset.

Significant changes in politics, society, and technology have resulted in many young people feeling disconnected from themselves. “They no longer feel they have the support they need to realise their big ambitions. When they reflect on their lives, they conclude they have little control over what happens next,” the IPPR report stated.

Disconnection was reflected in the rise of doomscrolling—”a fundamentally solitary activity that has become the daily pastime of a generation.”

The report indicated that young people’s disconnection from society was illustrated by their belief that health, education, and support services were not designed to meet their needs.

The IPPR report added: “Today’s disconnection is the result of political choices made by adults in the name of neoliberalism. Our young people have grown up in a country reshaped by ideology that professes that ‘there is no such thing as society’.

“The disconnection young people describe can trace its origins back to a shift away from collectivism and towards the privatisation and marketisation of public services and assets, the adoption of identity politics over the politics of inclusion, and a deference to unaccountable tech oligarchs.”

The IPPR’s findings echoed research conducted last December by Professor Eamon McCrory, chief executive of the Anna Freud mental health charity in London, which attributed “social thinning”—the loss of in-person social interaction among adolescents—as a primary driver of the significant increase in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and other mental health problems among young people, particularly girls and young women.

“A profound thinning in the real-world social ecology—the social relationships, spaces, and infrastructures—that once supported adolescent development” was as significant in explaining the decline in young people’s mental health as their immersion in digital technology, he argued.

Andy Bell, chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health think-tank, stated that the IPPR report presented “a very worrying picture about young people’s experiences of growing up in Britain today. Isolation and loneliness are toxic to our mental and physical health, and young people feel increasingly alone.”

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