Youth Voice Census 2023
Key Findings from the Youth Voice Census 2023 by Youth Employment UK.
1. Disaffected and Disconnected
Young people feel disconnected from their communities and have a growing sense of disenfranchisement.
4 in 10 young people do not feel safe where they live and 3 in 10 feeling unsafe within their learning environment.
Just 3 in 10 young people feel that they have a role model in their local community.
There is a growing "them" and 'us" narrative amongst young people of all ages.
2. Catching Up on Disruption
The reality of the last 12 months for young people has been one of disruption and delay.
55.1% of young people in education agreed that their learning had been disrupted, up by 3 ppts on last year's scores.
Work experience is down on last year for all; by 6.8 ppts for those in school, college and sixth form.
Access to local facilities, enrichment and extracurricular support is down too.
3. Facing Their Future
For young people in secondary school we see a much needed and welcome increase in careers and education experiences.
In parallel we see in college, sixth forms and university that all careers engagements are down on last year, causing a concern for the key transition points of older students.
For those not in education, employment or training (NEET) there are less opportunities to build their skills, knowledge and confidence with less careers and personal support available to young people who are NEET.
Year on year the number of young people who think they can access quality work where they live is decreasing, just 12.4% of young people think there are quality opportunities available where they live, a reduction of 3 ppts on last year.
Only 1 in 3 young people think employers are supportive of hiring them and just under half are not confident that they will progress into a good job.
We see again this year that young people are scoring their self-belief, confidence and motivation as skills they feel least confident about.
We see too that for young people 19+ and out of education that they believe that employers are looking for all skills, there is a very real sense that to be prepared for work means being able to show employers that you have all skills, be well qualified and have work experience.
4. Quality Work
Whilst young people in work faced less disruption than other groups we can see a shift in their wellbeing, stress and pressure.
Wellbeing in work was down, with 1 in 3 young people in work struggling, young people were 4.8 ppts less likely to be happy in their current role compared to last year.
Those currently in work told us of the struggles they had had to access work with one of the biggest barriers being anxiety (51%) around 10% of young people now in work were suffering from depression.
Travel and location played a significant role for those currently in work being able to access work initially and this year challenges with location and travel were up around 8%, as were instances of young people struggling with employer flexibility.
Young people in apprenticeships are some of the happiest at work, overall apprenticeships score highly 73.6% of apprentices feeling prepared for their next steps. Apprentices do still raise concerns over the quality of the training providers they are supported by.
The Youth Voice Census 2023 paints a stark picture of the challenges facing young people in the UK today. Young people feel disconnected from their communities, are struggling to catch up on disruption caused by the pandemic, and are facing a difficult future with limited job opportunities and a lack of support.
Despite these challenges, there are some positive findings in the census. Apprenticeships are highly rated by young people and there are some good examples of employers and organizations that are supporting young people in a meaningful way.
However, there is a clear need for more to be done to address the challenges facing young people. The government, employers, and other organizations need to work together to create a more supportive environment for young people to thrive.