A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research, titled "The Loneliest Generation," indicates a significant rise in isolation among young people. The number of 11- to 24-year-olds with no close friends has increased fivefold since 2014.
The report highlights that one in 20 individuals aged 16 to 21 state they have no close friends. Factors cited for this trend include digital childhoods and austerity measures, such as the closure of youth clubs.
The report suggests that these factors are eroding the foundations of a good adolescence. The author of the Guardian article, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, reflects on the importance of face-to-face interaction in forming friendships, noting that her own adolescent friendships, while partly digital, were primarily in-person.