Structural Causes of the Youth Well-being Crisis: A Call for Radical Reforms

Although global data on subjective well-being (SWB) among children and adolescents remain limited, evidence from high-income countries highlights a mounting crisis in youth well-being and mental health. In recent years, there has been growing global interest in the study of children’s well-being, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, available time-series evidence suggests that the youth well-being crisis began long before the pandemic. To date, research has primarily concentrated on the intrinsic mechanisms influencing children’s well-being, as well as on the family, social, and cultural factors that may shape it (Xu et al., 2024). Despite this, there is limited understanding of how broader structural dynamics affect children’s well-being. In this work, first we provide a review of the evidence on the youth well-being and mental health crisis. Second, we argue that youth have experienced a revolution in their time use and living environment in HICs since the 1980s. Children’s daily lives have shifted away from unstructured play and peer-based face-to-face interactions, toward home-centered, screen-based and adult-supervised activities. Moreover, over time, kids, and teens have faced more commercial and performance pressure, and have lost autonomy. Third, we review the literature on the impact of these changes on youth’ well-being. . We then discuss the policy reforms needed to address these structural changes. In particular, we argue that urban planning, education systems, advertising, and the climate crisis play a critical role in shaping children’s social experiences and well-being. We conclude by emphasizing the need for ambitious reforms in these areas to restore youth time, expand opportunities for independent experiences, and safeguard its social lives and well-being.