UK YOUTH: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE SICKLY

The Young Generation Is Better Educated Than Ever Before, But Is Also
Less Wealthy And Takes More Drugs Than Other Age Groups, Says Survey

Britain's young people are the best qualified, and most mobile,
defiantly single and sexually liberated young generation ever raised
in Britain.

They are also the least well-paid group in society, suffer high rates
of unemployment, are the most likely victims and perpetrators of
crime, take more drugs than any other age group and are sicklier than
previous generations.

These contrasting views of the nation's 8.7m 13- to 24-year-olds
emerged ina survey published yesterday by the Office for National
Statistics, examining the transitions made by young people as they
move from education to work and from dependence to
independence.

The majority of young people are raised in families headed by a
couple, with 24% coming from single parent families. But while 71%
still grow up in a married family environment this has done little to
stem the decline in marriage rates.

In the 1950s young couples were four times more likely to marry than
they are today, and the mean age at which people marry has steadily
risen since 1971, from 24 to 30 for men, and 22 to 28 for women. Only
3% of men and 7% of women under 24 were married in 1998, the period of
the study.

There has been a rise in the number of people cohabiting in the same
period, with 9% of unmarried 19- to 24-year-old men and 18% of women
of the same age living together. More than half of all 20- to
24-year-olds have moved out of the family home.

An increase in asthma and muscular complaints is thought to be
responsible for one of the report's more worrying findings; that 20%
of young people suffer from long-standing ailments, an increase of 8%
since 1975.

Concerns about body image among young women are also borne out. Some
23% of 13- to 15-year-olds said they thought they were too heavy,
rising to 28% among 16- to 19-year-olds and 38% for those aged 20 to
24. By contrast, more than half of all boys said they were the right
weight.

The study reveals a marked difference in the experiences and attitudes
of boys and girls in relation to health, sex and education. Girls are
more likely than boys to be regular smokers by the age of 15 (29%
against 19%). The gap narrows as people reach the 20-24 group, with
42% of men and 39% of women smoking regularly.

By contrast boys and men are far more prodigious drinkers than women,
with 44% of 18- to 20-year-olds claiming to drink more than eight
units (four pints) daily, compared with 29% of girls claiming to
consume more than six units daily.

The 20-24 age group contains society's biggest drinkers regardless of
gender, with regular extreme alcohol consumption tailing off as people
pass into their mid-20s.

Around a third of all 16- to 24-year-olds have taken an illegal drug,
with young men more likely to indulge (36%) than young women (24%).

The most commonly used drug is cannabis, followed by amphetamines and
ecstasy. Cocaine use is much lower than in older age groups, where
drug use as a whole is less prevalent.

Women are more sexually active than men of the same age, with 37% of
16- to 19-year-olds having one sexual partner in the past year,
compared with 24% of men, and 33% having more than two, compared with
28%.

Educationally girls perform better than their male counterparts. In
1998-99 54% of girls achieved five or more GCSE grades A to C or
equivalent, compared with 44% of boys. At A-level, 25% of girls have
two A levels or more, 4% more than boys.

More people than ever stay in full-time education and for longer, with
2.4m people - around a third - staying on beyond the minimum age of
16.

Young men earn more than young women in full and part-time employment,
although the gender discrepancy increases in the above-25 age group.
Average weekly wages for 18- to 20-year-old women are around (pound)20
less than for young men. Unemployment rates are high, with 19% of
young men not in education out of work, and 29% of young women.

Nearly 21% of victims of violent crimes are young men, while 35% of
all offenders are men aged between 16 and 20.

While 33% of those eligible supported Labour at the last election,
nearly a third did not bother to vote.