The research, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, asked over 2,000 girls aged 7 to 21 across the UK for their views on a range of areas across their lives. The results this year show girls’ and young women’s happiness has been in decline for over a decade, but the last three years has seen an acceleration in this trend. The pandemic has intensified girls’ feeling of worry, anxiety and loneliness. Girls and young women want more support for their wellbeing, education and wider opportunities as we recover from the pandemic. And for children and young people’s voices to inform decision-making.
Read the full report here
Relating to your work, we thought you might be particularly interested in the data for girls and young women that shows:
- 63% aged 7-21 say they’re happy most of time compared to 81% in 2018
- 67% aged 7-21 have felt more sad, anxious or worried than they did before the pandemic
- 93% aged 11-21 believe people shouldn’t be discriminated against because they are LGBTQ+ (3% disagree)
- LGBQ girls and young women aged 11 to 21 are more likely to say they’ve felt lonely during the pandemic (77% compared to 63% of those who are straight)
- LGBQ girls and young women aged 11 to 21 are more likely to have experienced sexist comments online in the last year (72% compared to 44% of those who identify as straight)
- 85% aged 11-21 want children and young people’s concerns to be at the centre of government decisions about the future
Girlguiding offers a space where girls can be themselves and make a positive difference in their communities. Throughout the pandemic, we have provided an invaluable role to support girls’ wellbeing and develop skills for their future. As we return to face-to-face guiding, we want to give more girls and young women the opportunity to benefit from all that guiding has to offer.
If you have any questions about the research, our work or how we can support you, please contact Leah Widdicombe, our External Affairs Officer on leah.widdicombe@girlguiding.org.uk.
