Bullying, pressure to do well in school, and negative feelings about their bodies all contributed to Irish teenagers being less satisfied with their lives than peers in other wealthy countries, according to research from Unicef.
Irish adolescents had one of the lowest rates of life satisfaction in the OECD, at 72 per cent. When asked to rate their satisfaction with life out of ten, 28 per cent of Irish teenagers said it was lower than five.
The findings were contained in a major annual study on the wellbeing of young people in OECD countries, conducted by global children’s charity Unicef.
The Unicef Report Card comparing countries across several measures of childhood wellbeing and development has been running for over two decades. Overall Ireland ranked 12th out of 38th when it came to young people’s wellbeing, with the Netherlands in the top spot, followed by Denmark and Norway.
Gwyther Rees, Unicef lead researcher on the work, said the findings showed one in six Irish children were not satisfied with life, and felt they had no sense of purpose.
Speaking following the report’s publication on Thursday, Mr Rees said the research found several factors were contributing to Irish teenagers’ low life satisfaction levels.
These included bullying, which was one major factor that “affects children hugely,” he said. Children who reported being bullied had markedly lower levels of life satisfaction, he said.
Other factors included pressure to do well at school, poor family relationships, negative feelings about their bodies, and material deprivation, Mr Rees said.
The research found that technology use, such as smartphones, had little to no impact on young people’s wellbeing, he said.
Addressing a virtual press conference, Mr Rees said “one of the big risks of Covid is that it may accentuate inequalities that already exist in societies.”
Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman said he was aware of the “acute” impacts an economic recession due to the coronavirus would have on young people.
Irish adolescents aged between 11 and 15 were more comfortable with their bodies than the OECD average. Some 27 per cent of Irish adolescents surveyed said they thought they were too fat, while 14 per cent felt they were too skinny, according to the Unicef research.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is made up of 38 member countries, and includes much of Europe, and other countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia, Turkey and Canada.
Young people in Poland, Germany, Estonia and Greece were among the most uncomfortable with their bodies, while those in Iceland were by far the most satisfied.
When it came to young people’s mental health Ireland ranked in the bottom third at 26th, and 17th in terms of physical health. Ireland ranked sixth in the overall table when it came to young people’s skills, in areas like education and socialisation.
Some 78 per cent of Irish teenagers had basic reading and maths skills, second only to Estonia. Irish teenagers also ranked above average when it came to making friends, with 76 per cent of 15 year olds reporting they easily made friends, the research found.
