Why have suicide levels risen among young people and what can be done to tackle this?

Every year, organisations and communities around the world come together on World Suicide Prevention Day to raise awareness of how we can create a world where fewer people reach the point where they feel suicide is their only option.  Ben Windsor-Shellard from ONS and Charlotte Simms from Samaritans reflect on the latest suicide figures for young people.

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Why are our children lonely?

As we come to the end of Mental Health Awareness Week, Ellie Osborn from the Social Well-being Analysis team looks at recent work the ONS has done that contributes to society’s understanding of loneliness, particularly in children and young people, and how we can help and improve mental health in the younger generation.

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Marking eight years of National Well-being – How we’re doing so far

Eight years ago, ONS established the Measuring National Well-being (MNW) programme. The aim was to produce accepted and trusted measures of the well-being of the nation and answer the fundamental question “how are we doing?”.   Rhian Jones discusses how the programme is enabling decision makers to look differently at the society around them, helping them to make better decisions.  

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