Growing up unequal: gender and socioeconomic differences in young people’s health and wellbeing

Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, a WHO collaborative cross-national study, provides information about the health, wellbeing, social environment and health behaviour of 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds . This latest report presents findings from the 2013/2014 survey. The data focuses on social context, health behaviours and risk behaviours, such as tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use, and fighting and bullying, relevant to young people’s health and wellbeing.

It found that 15-year-olds in England and Wales were among the least likely to report high levels of satisfaction with their lives, with only children from Poland and Macedonia being less satisfied. Teenager girls in the UK liked school less than peers elsewhere in the world. Just 16% of girls in England said they liked school a lot, compared with the international average of 24%.

Teenagers in England, Scotland and Wales were also among the most stressed at school, with Scottish 15-year-olds feeling most pressured by schoolwork in the UK, and coming second only to Malta internationally. England’s teenagers ranked fifth on the international table, with 73% of 15-year-old girls and 52% of boys feeling pressured by schoolwork. In Wales, 67% of girls and 52% of boys complained of pressure.