Young people becoming less happy than older generations, research shows

America’s top doctor says governments’ failure to better regulate social media is ‘insane’

• Vivek Murthy: the US surgeon general highlighting unhappiness
• ‘You have to stand out’: six Dagenham teenagers on their future prospects

Young people are becoming less happy than older generations as they suffer “the equivalent of a midlife crisis”, global research has revealed as America’s top doctor warned that “young people are really struggling”.

Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, said allowing children to use social media was like giving them medicine that is not proven to be safe. He said the failure of governments to better regulate social media in recent years was “insane”.