The Health Foundation states that millennials are on track to have worse health problems than their parents. The foundation also notes that people in their 20's and 30's are at a higher risk for certain lifestyle illnesses including diabetes, cancers, and heart disease in the next 30 years.
Young Adults Are At Risk
The report showed that young adults face greater long-term depression, stress, and anxiety because of the rise of insecure work arrangements. The report continues that young adults in their 20s have to manage their relationships and friendships digitally and in person. The report continued that despite a decline in alcohol and smoking among young adults, they are still "losing ground" on important social and environmental factors.
The Office for National Statistics revealed earlier this year that millennials were more prone to suffer from loneliness than any other age group. This new study shows similarities between the rise in poor health among young adults may be due to certain trends including zero-hour contracts and college graduates working "non-graduate" jobs.
The study continues that a secure home is the "building block" for good health in the future, however, out of the participants who took part in the study, only 31 percent claimed to have strong support systems while growing up.
Less than half of the participants claimed to have financial support and family support, and 49 percent stated that they received emotional support from their family.
The Lost Generation
The study also found that 80 percent of the participants feel that social media "pressures" them to act a certain way. The participants of the study were between the ages of 22-26-years-old.
"There are already signs that the gains made in improving the health of previous generations may well be eroded by the precariousness and instability of the lives many young people are facing," the foundation's policy director, Jo Bibby stated.
Michael Marmot, a professor at University College London, agreed with Bibby's statement by elaborating that in addition to mental illnesses, crime, or anything else that could be happening right now, society may be "storing up" more problems for young adults in the future.
In 2017, the health insurance provider, Cigna, conducted a study that showed adults that were 18-years-old and up felt lonely and lacked "companionship." The study also revealed that majority of the young adults who participated in it felt that no one understands them or the relationships they had weren't "meaningful."
