Rising youth loneliness driven by social media, economic strain and mental health challenges

‘I don’t have any friends’: why do young people today have fewer mates?

Social media, mental health problems, the pandemic and financial instability all contribute to the phenomenon On Tess Lavanda’s YouTube channel there is one video with substantially more views than the rest: it is titled “I don’t have any friends” and has been watched more than half a million times since she posted it a month ago. Over on Instagram she has posted dozens of reels with titles like “I turned 22 alone”, “Living alone in London” and “Feeling alone this summer is OK”, each garnerin...

By Jessica Murray Social affairs correspondent