Young people’s health and wellbeing is being eroded by a lack of jobs, a shortage of housing and cuts to public services. A new report by the Health Foundation published today concludes that in many cases, the long term health of 16- to 24-year-olds is being jeopardised by socioeconomic factors and a lack of public services. “To be healthy, everyone needs a job, a friend, somewhere to live and education or job opportunities,” says Jo Bibby, director of health at the Health Foundation. “Conversely, not having those things increases the chances of illness later in life.”

Part of its two-year inquiry into young people’s future health, the report brings together the results of six months’ qualitative interviews and workshops with over 600 young people – including around 80 who directly helped with the research – and those providing services in Bradford, Bristol, Denbighshire in Wales, Lisburn in Northern Ireland and North Ayrshire in Scotland to see to what extent 12- to 24-year-olds across the UK today have the building blocks to become healthy adults. Young people are “adversely affected by weak jobs markets, poor housing and cuts to public services” and that “many of the protective factors that are so important for future health, such as a financial and practical safety net, are missing,” says Julia Unwin, strategic adviser to the Health Foundation’s inquiry.

Whereas life expectancy for 15- to 19-year-olds typically rose by two to three years between 2001 and 2010, after 2012 the rate of increase stalled. A Guardian estimation using ONS projections shows that in 2018, a 15-year-old boy growing up in the UK can expect to live until they are around 88 years old, while a girl of the same age can expect to live until 91.

In the five areas in today’s report, North Ayrshire has the lowest life expectancy. A 15- to 19-year-old boy can expect to live for around another 61 years and girls of the same age can expect to live for another 66, meaning that longevity has actually fallen. In Bradford, life expectancy for males is marginally lower than it was in 2011-13 and marginally higher for females. Lisburn has the highest life expectancy: 15- to 19-year-old boys can expect to live for around another 66 years and a girl could live for around another 69 years. Life expectancy has continued to rise in Bristol, in Lisburn and for young women in Denbighshire.

The World Health Organisation says that half of all inequalities in major diseases are due to social factors, such as where people are born, grow up, live, work and become old. Poverty has a major impact on health. Young people from the most deprived areas of the UK are twice as likely to be obese, smoke regularly and get pregnant under the age of 18 than young people in the most affluent areas, according to the Association for Young People’s Health.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Those aged between 18 and 24 are more likely to be in poverty and debt, due to high rents and precarious work: they are disproportionately employed on zero-hours contracts.’ Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Young people “could clearly see how a precarious labour market combined with very low family income made it difficult for their parents to fulfil their role in supporting them into adulthood,” the report states. It also finds that even in more affluent places, those from poorer families or neighbourhoods said poverty affected their family life and their mental health, with some young people being reluctant to raise personal issues with their family because they didn’t want to add to the pressure their parents were under.

For young people looking to leave home or already living independently, money worries are even more prevalent. Those aged between 18 and 24 are more likely to be in poverty and debt, due to high rents and precarious work: they are disproportionately employed on zero-hours contracts. “On my zero-hours contract, it’s so unstable that one week I can earn £200 and the next £20,” one workshop participant from North Ayrshire said.

Increasing numbers of young people do not have stable accommodation. Figures released today by the housing charity Shelter show that 131,000 children in England are homeless, the highest rate in a decade. Of these, 9,500 are living in emergency accommodation like B&Bs, with the remainder in temporary accommodation.

“When children experience homelessness, we often start to see significant damage to their physical, emotional and social development,” says Greg Beales, director of campaigns at Shelter. Nutritional needs are unmet, and feelings of fear and isolation cause distress and the potential for long-term mental health issues.

“To move every few weeks to different areas, away from friends and other family members; to live in cramped conditions with mould, damp and rats – these are all extremely traumatising for children. Education is disrupted and teachers tell us that they start to see children struggle with both their work and their behaviour.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Figures released by the housing charity Shelter show that 131,000 children in England are homeless, the highest rate in a decade.’ Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

“It is our collective failure that a society as wealthy as ours can allow the number of children who are homeless to keep rising every year. It simply doesn’t have to be this way.”

It’s not just young people’s physical health that is being put at risk, researchers conclude. According to the latest figures, almost 390,000 under-18s in England a year are being treated for mental health conditions, while GPs are referring around 50,000 a month to mental health services. But cuts means young people often have to wait a long time for help. “We saw the immediate impact of the day-to-day pressures young people face at home, school and among their peer groups on their wellbeing,” the report states. “We also saw a support system that is inadequate in its ability to intervene early and meet current demand.”

Cuts to public services are a particular worry for 16- to 24-year-olds across all five areas, the report finds, especially youth services. “There was one youth club in my area and I loved going when I was younger – but it has closed down now and there is nothing else in the area,” a young person from Bradford told researchers. Analysis by the public sector union Unison published earlier this week reveals that across the UK, over 760 youth centres have disappeared since 2012. And since 2016, nearly 900 youth worker jobs have been cut and at least 160 youth centres have shut down. “Youth services help with employment, training and education, potential mental health issues, and act to prevent alcohol and substance abuse, as well as crime and anti-social behaviour,” says Unison general secretary, Dave Prentis. “Funding for these services should not be cut at a time when they are needed more than ever.”

Cuts to public transport, in particular buses, have also hit young people hard, reducing their ability to find and get a job or stay in education, unless their parents can take them in the car, the report finds. “The college here closed down. A lot of people can’t get to the other campus, so they just aren’t going now,” says one of the young researchers in Denbighshire.

“Our findings show that young people’s health and futures are being put at risk by a lack of stable jobs, cuts to public services and a lack of affordable housing,” says Bibby. “The government needs to put investment in young people’s futures at the heart of policy. If we continue to ignore this generation’s needs, our society will pay a high price.”

North Ayrshire: ‘I wouldn’t feel safe enough to walk through the town centre at 5pm’

“North Ayrshire is a very divided place in terms of health and wealth,” says 23-year-old Nairn McDonald. “Depending on where you go, you’re either going to be told how great it is in the wealthy areas, or in the poorer areas you’re going to get told that there’s a lack of support and a lack of hope or aspiration”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Young people want more ‘safe spaces’ for them to engage with each other and ‘relax, calm down or open up’ in, the Health Foundation found. Photograph: Andrew Saunders

North Ayrshire is a mostly coastal area made up of a number of towns and the Isle of Arran. It has been affected by a decline in industry and deprivation rates are high here: in the past year, council homelessness applications have increased by 27% compared to just 1% in the whole of Scotland, and the percentage of children in low-income families is 23.8%, compared with 16.5% across Scotland.

The area also performs worse than the rest of Scotland on a range of health indicators. “In Kilwinning you can start off in a wealthy private estate with a high life expectancy” explains McDonald, “but if you just walk through the main street you get to a council estate where male life expectancy drops by 21 years.”

Drugs and alcohol also seem to be a key issue for young people in North Ayrshire. Smoking and drinking among 14- to 15-year-olds has decreased since 2010 but is higher than the Scottish average with 11.3% regularly smoking and 13.5% drinking alcohol weekly. Around 5.4% report using drugs monthly. “I think you’d struggle in North Ayrshire to find a family which hasn’t at some point been affected by alcohol addiction or drug addiction” says Nairn. “It’s a cultural issue for the whole of the west of Scotland but North Ayrshire definitely has a problem”.

“There are big problems with mental health, addiction, drug abuse, alcohol abuse and just generally being there for one another,” agrees 18-year-old Mackenzie Hollis. “It’s a good community but with drugs and alcohol and knife crime, after 5pm I wouldn’t feel safe enough to walk through the town centre”.

Young people want more “safe spaces” for them to engage with each other and “relax, calm down or open up” in. They advocate a rise in the number of youth groups and the development of peer-to-peer mentoring, and training for teachers in mental health and removing the stigma around male mental health in particular. To ensure a basic level of support and opportunity, they also advocate widening the provision of the educational maintenance allowance – currently available for students under 20, dependent on financial circumstances – to include every young person in the area.

Where this area excels compared to the rest of Scotland is in its sense of community. Figures from the 2016 Scottish Household Survey show that 73% of 16- to 39-year-olds have a very strong or fairly strong sense of belonging to their local community.“It’s easy to be complacent about that, but we do pride ourselves on having a strong approach to community empowerment” says Audrey Sutton, head of connected communities at North Ayrshire council. She points to new mental health toolkits in schools, and the fact that the council has become a “child-centred council” with a range of pledges around health, physical activity, poverty and other indicators underpinned by the input of young people themselves.

Despite the challenges, many young people feel optimistic about the future. “North Ayrshire is unique because we’ll fix things rather than waiting for somebody to fix them for us” says McDonald.

Hollis agrees. “The first thing I’d do to solve these problems is get the whole community together and ask them what they want and what they need,” she says. “And then I’d say: ‘how are we going to work together to do that?’”

Eve Livingston

Bristol: ‘There’s not a lot of hope: we struggle to find work’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Bristol is a lively, hip place. But it is also a divided city with some of the wealthiest areas in the south-west of England a few minutes’ walk from some of the most deprived in England.’ Photograph: Andrew Saunders

Grace Holland, 18, is busy. She is a full-time college student, cares for her mother and has a string of zero-hours jobs ranging from healthcare assistant to cleaner and waitress.On top of thatIf that were not enough, Holland has been dealing with her mental health issues for six years. “I started self harming when I was 12 due to my family breaking down. That was the trigger for me. I began worrying about finances. I didn’t know what I was feeling. I didn’t know how to explain it. Nobody believed me. They thought I was being a normal teenager, worrying about stuff, a bit angsty.” Eventually she was diagnosed as having depression, anxiety and OCD.

Bristol is a lively, hip place. But it is also a divided city with some of the wealthiest areas in the south-west of England a few minutes’ walk from some of the most deprived in England. The gap in life expectancy between the most-deprived and least-deprived areas is almost 10 years for men and seven years for women. Nearly a quarter of children live in low-income families, while more than a third are overweight or obese by the age of 11. An estimated 6% of 15 year olds regularly drink alcohol, similar to the England average but 18% have tried cannabis, significantly higher than nationally (11%).

“There are certainly a lot of challenges,” says Holland. “I think there are more pressures on young people now. Work is difficult. I have been in several jobs on zero-hours contracts where I’ve been told I have to compete for my hours with my colleagues, which isn’t something you should be doing.

“Drink, drugs and smoking is a problem. I know many people who turn to them as a way to cope because it relaxes you.”

Holland would like a job in mental health but needs to juggle that ambition with caring for her mother. The idea of breaking out and having her own home seems a long way away. “The only way I can see myself buying a property is if I won the lottery. It’s a pipe dream.”The cost of buying or renting has increased beyond the reach of many. And latest figures from housing charity Shelter show that 846 children and young people are homeless. “Bristol is a city that doesn’t have affordable housing for young people,” says Dom Wood, chief executive of 1625 Independent People, a charity that supports young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. “If you are unemployed or in low-paid work you get £293 a month towards your rent. The average rent for a room last year in a shared house was £480 a month. The average flat is £780. People are being priced out of areas. Young people and their families are moving out from areas where their social networks are.”

Ebony Clark, 16, is from the most deprived ward in Bristol – Hartcliffe in the south of the city, where only 71% say they are in good health, compared with 84% for the whole city. She has hip dysplasia. “I can’t move properly because of my hip, I rely on my mum and dad to help me. It makes me feel less independent, but I want to be independent, I want to get a good job.”“There’s not a lot of hope,” she says. “People struggle to find work if they are young. I can’t imagine getting my own place in the future.”

Steven Morris