I am concerned that The Children’s Society’s ‘Good Childhood Report’ 2020 has found that one in five young people report low well-being, and that, when compared to 15-year-olds in 23 other countries, the UK came 24th for high life satisfaction, 24th for having a sense of purpose in life, and 23rd for high levels of sadness. 

More concerning still, is that the UK has been on a continuous decline when it comes to children’s wellbeing for at least the last decade. 

As a country with the sixth largest economy in the world, it is unacceptable that our children’s wellbeing continues to suffer. There is clearly a severe flaw in the UK’s priorities and approach to wellbeing. 

These children are the future of our nation, and to start life with such high levels of sadness and poor mental health does not bode well for their future or the country’s future. 

I have written to the Prime Minister to ask him to get a grip of this damaging decline in children’s well-being by introducing robust measurement of children’s well-being and tasking a Minister to take responsibility for reversing the 10-year decline in children’s well-being. I have posted a copy of this letter below.