Brittle Britain, anxious and stressed
By Alan Fisher 
A report by the Young Foundation, “Sinking and Swimming – Understanding Britain’s Unmet Needs”, which was based on a large survey and backed by a dozen of the Uk’s leading foundations, has found that there is less material poverty, less crime and better health. However, inequalities are widening and measures of psychological need show that conventional wisdom is not tackling many of the main issues of modern life.
For example, the report highlights that:
- 2.5 million people are still on incapacity benefit
- Prescriptions of antidepressant drugs has risen from 9 million in 1991 to 34 million in 2007
- Average household unsecured debt (excluding mortgages) is now over £9,000
- Anxiety and depression looks set to double in a single generation
- 0.75 million 16-24 year olds are not in education, training or work
- 0.5 million pensioners will spend Christmas alone
As our society has become more individualistic, so loneliness has grown. The research has shown that a million people have no one to turn to in time of need, and no one who appreciates them.
A particular failure has been in helping young people to make the transition from being a child to being an adult. Whilst middle-class teenagers can generally rely on parents and family friends, many others receive little real help – not least the 80,000 in local authority care.
The message is that a decade or more of focussing on relieving material needs has achieved much, but many relational and psychological needs are left unsupported. Whilst society is generally materially comfortable, the buffers of religion and family that helped people in the past to cope with life’s stresses and setbacks have weakened.
Geoff Mulgan, a director of the young Foundation, summarises “Our survey shows that Britain is a rich country but with many poor people; a generally happy country but with many unhappy people. It’s not broken. But it is brittle, anxious and stressed.”
“To the public it is obvious that psychological needs are as important as material ones, that love, care, peace of mind are as vital to a good life as having enough heating or enough clothes to wear. Yet there is an odd gulf between this common knowledge and public policy. Whoever can bridge that gap may win the battle to convince the public that they understand poverty and what to do about it. “
Here is a challenge for Christians of today. Many people, and the young in particular, are dissatisfied with the relentless consumerism and selfishness of modern life, and are looking for something more meaningful. The Christian Good News is as relevant in this context as ever before – it just requires us to live it and share it.
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