Anxiety, safety, discrimination and the cost of living are the biggest issues for young people, according to the Youth Voice Census Report 2024 – the largest survey of young people in the UK (age 11-30), with over 5000 participants this year.
“Young people are feeling less positive about their future this year, with only 10% believing they can access quality work where they live,” said Youth Employment UK CEO Laura-Jane Rawlings MBE DL.
“On top of this, they are being forced to compromise on safety, quality, cost or location to access education, training and employment opportunities. The sense of unfairness is being felt by all young people, whoever and wherever they are. Young people tell us that they don’t want to feel like this and actually would love nothing more than to have access to good opportunities; they just do not believe those opportunities exist for them.”
The report’s key findings were as follows:
1. Anxiety continues to impact young people, it is one of the biggest barriers young people face.
- 43% of young people think anxiety will be one of their biggest barriers to finding work now or in the future.
- 44% of young people currently in work thought anxiety was a barrier when they were looking for work.
- 3 in 5 young people indicated feeling anxious in their daily life.
2. Confidence continues to decline for those in education.
- Only 36% of young people in secondary school think they understand the skills employers are looking for.
- A third of young people feel like their school supports them.
- Young people in education feel less confident across all employability skills.
3. Opening up opportunities…
- Access to sports clubs is down 6 ppts.
- Access to learning a musical instrument is down 7 ppts.
- Access to enrichment and extracurricular activities is down 9 ppts.
4. Overall, work is a positive place for young people.
- 83% think that their working environment is supportive.
- 70% of respondents are happy in their current job role.
- 70% of respondents would describe their employer as youth friendly.
