Young people with fewer than five A*-C GCSE grades are unhappier and less confident than those with better grades, according to the Prince’s Trust. Nearly a quarter of young people with poor grades think their life will amount to nothing, according to its youth happiness survey. The report also reveals that young people are the unhappiest they’ve been since the survey started due to fears about getting a job and buying a property. Half of all young people feel the job market is more difficult than it was a year ago and more than a third don’t feel in control of their employment prospects. Rising living costs are also a big concern, according to The Prince’s Trust Macquarie Youth Index. More than a third of young people feel out of control of their lives and worry that living costs are rising faster than their salary, regardless of their grades. Nearly half feel traditional goals such as owning a house or getting a steady job are unrealistic, while 34 per cent think they will have a worse standard of living than their parents did. But the results are more pronounced for those with a poor academic record. The index, which is in its eight year, shows that the overall score for happiness and confidence is 70 for those with good grades and 63 for those with fewer than five top grades. In every single area of the survey on wellbeing, those who did less well in their exams had lower scores than their more successful peers. It also reveals that more than a third of those without five top grades don’t feel in control of their lives, Young people with poor grades are more likely to regularly feel “lost” and “hopeless” than those with more than five A*-C GCSE grades, and are also less optimistic about their futures, the report says. The research finds that 27 percent feel unconfident about their future employment and 31 percent feel unconfident about how much money they will have in the future. A shocking 38 percent of young people with poor grades don’t feel in control of their lives and a quarter don’t think they have the ability to change their circumstances. A quarter also said they feel unhappy about their futures in work, employment, education or training. The report highlights a wide range of factors that could be contributing to young people with poor grades feeling out of control of their lives. For example, 22 percent claim they don’t know anyone who ‘really cares’ about them, 41 percent feel stressed about their finances and 28 percent feel stressed about work. Of those young people with poor grades who don’t feel in control, half feel a lack of self-confidence holds them back, and 41 percent said they find it hard to cope with problems. The annual survey gauges young people’s wellbeing across a range of areas from family life to physical health. It was based on a survey of 2,161 young people aged 16 to 25. The latest report demonstrates that young people’s wellbeing is at its lowest level since the index was first commissioned. More than one in 10 young people think their life will amount to nothing, no matter how hard they try. Many young people feel trapped, with almost a fifth saying they don’t believe they can change their circumstances if they want to. And more than one in 10 claim they don’t know anyone who “really cares” about them. The Youth Index indicates that the current political and economic climate also appears to be taking its toll on young people. More than half of young people say recent political events make them feel anxious about their future, with 41 percent feeling more anxious about life in general than a year ago. Martina Milburn CBE, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust said, “This report paints a deeply concerning picture of a generation who feel their ability to shape their own future is slipping away from them. The single most important thing we can do to empower these young people is to help them into a job, an education course or on to a training programme. Now, more than ever, we must work together to provide the support and opportunities they need to unlock a brighter future.” The YouGov survey was conducted between November 3 and 28 last year. Trump was elected on November 8.