Millennials are on track to have worse health in middle age than their parents, according to a new report
- Millennials could have worse health in middle age than their parents.
- This is according to a new report from the Health Foundation, which found they may have a higher risk of developing cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
- Millennials already have it tough with lower wages, less job security, and emotional pressure.
- They are also more likely to suffer from chronic loneliness than other generations.
Millennials already have it tough. Their wages are stagnating, they are unlikely to own their own homes, and they're constantly told they are entitled and lazy.
According to a new report by the Health Foundation think tank, millennials may be the first generation to suffer from poorer health than their parents.
This is down to the impact of employment trouble, relationships, and housing currently affecting people in their 20s and 30s - leading to a higher risk of developing diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease when millennials reach middle age.
Overall, the trend is "linked to long-term stress, anxiety, depression or lower quality of life," according to the report, which also found that millennials are the first generation to earn less money than their parents did at their age.
"Young people today are facing pressures that are very different to those of previous generations," said Jo Bibby, the director of health at the Health Foundation.
In particular, millennials are under psychological stress from insecure working hours, zero-hours contracts, under-employment, and the "gig" economy, as well as the impact of social media, which the report said, adds pressure because digital friendships and relationships have to be upheld as well as real-life connections.
In the survey of 2,000 people aged between 22 and 26, just 31% said they had strong relationships and support networks growing up, and 46% said they had enough financial and family support. Only 49% said they had emotional support from family, while a massive 80% said they felt under pressure to behave a certain way because of social media.
Earlier this year, a study from Kings College London found that lonely millennials have twice the rick of developing mental health problems like depression and anxiety, compared to those who are connected to others. The Office for National Statistics also found that millennials are more likely to suffer from chronic loneliness than any other age group.
Bibby told the Times that although there are improvements being made to young people's health, this can easily be eroded by "the precariousness and instability of the lives many young people are facing."
Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London, added: "I agree with them that we may be storing up problems for the future, in addition to whatever problems of mental illness, crime and the like that may be happening right now."