Young Britons ‘Feel They Have Nothing to Live For’

A study for the Prince’s Trust charity reports that almost a third of long-term unemployed people have contemplated killing themselves and that “urgent action must be taken to prevent the young jobless from becoming the young hopeless,” the BBC reports.

The news site continues:

The Prince’s Trust Macquarie Youth Index was based on interviews with 2,161 16 to 25-year-olds. Of these, 281 were classified as Neet (not in employment, education or training) and 166 of these Neets had been unemployed for over six months.

The report found 9% of all respondents agreed with the statement: “I have nothing to live for” and said if 9% of all youngsters felt the same, it would equate to some 751,230 young people feeling they had nothing to live for.

Among those respondents classified as Neet, the percentage of those agreeing with the statement rose to 21%.

Long-term unemployed young people were more than twice as likely as others their age to have been prescribed anti-depressants. One in four said they had hurt themselves in the course of their depression. Those showing “symptoms of mental illness, including suicidal thoughts, feelings of self-loathing and panic attacks, as a direct result of unemployment” counted for 40 percent, the BBC said.

Three-quarters of those studied did not have someone to confide in.

Martina Milburn, chief executive of the Prince’s Trust, said: “Unemployment is proven to cause devastating, long-lasting mental health problems among young people.

“Thousands wake up every day believing that life isn’t worth living, after struggling for years in the dole queue.

“More than 440,000 young people are facing long-term unemployment, and it is these young people that urgently need our help.”

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.