It's really disheartening to see how young people's happiness has taken a hit lately. In 2010, only 3% of young people in this survey said they were unhappy with their life, scoring below the midpoint. But fast forward to 2022, and that number has quadrupled to 12.5%. That's not a great trend, to say the least.

And guess what? It's not just about happiness; it's also about general satisfaction. The chart above tells the same story - a decline in how content young people feel about life in general.

When you think about it, it's not really a shocker. There's been a surge in mental distress (see Chart 3 in this section), and young people are dealing with the tricky task of navigating peer relationships increasingly online. On top of that, there's a growing sense of dissatisfaction with school and education. And the future? Well, it's looking a bit uncertain, isn't it? The opportunities for young people as they grow into adulthood seem less clear these days. So, all of these factors are converging, making it tough for our young people to keep their spirits up and we're still not sure of the true long term impacts of the pandemic on young people's wellbeing and life satisfaction.