Today's generation forced to face the hard facts of life

GLENDA COOPER

More than three in five adults believe their children have a worse deal than they had and nearly the same proportion think the world is a worse place than when they were young, according to a Mori survey for the children's charity, Barnardo's.

The survey, The Facts Of Life, explodes the myth that life for previous generations of children was harder than today's. Confidence in the future has been replaced by "powerlessness", felt not just by those from deprived backgrounds but people in the affluent higher bands.

The aim of the research was to highlight how childhood has changed over the past 20 years. According to nine out of 10 adults today's children will witness more crime and violence than a generation ago and 80 per cent feel children have fewer safe areas in which to play.

Seven out of 10 adults think that children are now less likely to have a stable family life and just over half think that children are less likely to have a loving home than a generation ago. Nearly three in five adults believe children today worry about their parents splitting up in comparison to 11 per cent of their own childhood fears being about parental break- up. Statistics seem to bear this out. The divorce rate is six times higher than 30 years ago and the proportion of babies born outside marriage went from 6 per cent in 1961 to 32 per cent today. One in five dependent children lives with a lone parent compared to one in 13 in the 1970s.

Financially, opinion is almost equally divided over whether children will have enough money to enjoy a reasonable lifestyle or own a home of their own.

While young people in the 1990s begin their adult lives with more educational qualifications than their parents and grandparents, the gap between the most and least advantaged local authority areas has grown wider. Views on education are split along class lines, with people in the lower income bands more inclined to say children these days are likely to get a good education and well resourced schools.

Just over half the adults questioned - more than 1,000 - think children today are unlikely to have a rewarding career and this comprises a higher proportion of those working full-time to those not working.

"The findings of this survey paint a depressing picture of adults' perception of the future for today's children. It is widely believed that children no longer grow up in a secure environment with the prospect of a permanent job if they do well at school," said Roger Singleton, senior director of Barnardo's.

There is now a consensus of opinion throughout the country that growing up is tougher in the 1990s. "The confidence and optimism of previous generations has been replaced by a feeling of powerlessness."

9The Facts of Life: The changing Face of Childhood, is available from Barnardo's, Tanners Lane, Barkingside, Ilford, IG6 1QG; pounds 5.