Young people five times more likely to have no friends than a decade ago, experts find

Young people ‘experiencing distress and loneliness at every turn’, think tank finds

Data paints sobering picture of 11- to 24-year-olds growing up in ‘bleak world’ shaped by pandemic and social media The number of young people with no close friends has risen fivefold since 2014 as a result of growing up in a “bleak world” dominated by austerity, the pandemic and social media. New research paints a sob