Young people are facing a number of challenges- including the pandemic, cost of living, and mental health crisis- that have created a climate unlike any experienced by generations past. Despite this, The Prince’s Trust NatWest 2023 Youth Index, an annual survey of 2,000 young people aged 16-25, reveals that more than two thirds of young people feel determined to achieve their goals in life. It is essential that young people have the space to speak, and be heard, on how these issues affect them and the support that they believe will make a meaningful difference.
For those of us in positions of support- be that employer, government, education, or third sector- the task is to listen, and to act based on what we hear.
Last month, the Edge Foundation hosted an event showcasing recent youth voice research, with speakers including Edge themselves, Youth Employment UK (YEUK), City & Guilds, and KCL. Barriers to the labour market, and support that could remove them, ran through the presentations.
The Prince’s Trust Natwest 2023 Youth Index found that young people’s wellbeing is at a record low and that for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) their wellbeing is worse. Taken together, these reports amplify a coherent call from young people: there is more to be done and it needs to be done now.
