January 2013
Youth Index 2013
One in ten young people feel unable to cope
with life.
One in ten young people (10 per cent) feel they cannot cope with
day-to-day life, warns The Prince's Trust Youth Index.
The Prince’s Trust Youth Index reveals that young people not in
employment, education or training (NEETs) are more than twice as
likely to feel unable to cope as their peers.
The report – based on interviews with 2,136 16-to-25-year-olds –
also shows how more than one in five young people (22 per cent) did
not have someone to talk to about their problems while they were
growing up.
According to the research, NEET young people are significantly
less likely to have had someone to talk to about their
problems.
Martina Milburn, chief executive of The Prince’s Trust,
said:
"A frightening number of unemployed young people feel unable to
cope – and it is particularly tough for those who don’t have a
support network in place.
"We know at The Prince’s Trust that it is often those from the
most vulnerable backgrounds who end up furthest from the job
market. Life can become a demoralising downward spiral - from a
challenging childhood into life as a jobless adult. But, with the
right support, we can help get these lives on track."
The charity's fifth annual Youth Index – which gauges young
people’s wellbeing across a range of areas from family life to
physical health – shows how NEETs are significantly less happy
across all areas of their lives.
The report reveals that while 27 per cent of young people in
work feel down or depressed 'always' or 'often', this increases to
almost half (48 per cent) among NEETs.
Richard Parish, chief executive of the Royal Society of Public
Health, said:
“The Youth Index clearly shows a worrying discrepancy between
young people who are in work and those who are not. These
unemployed young people need support to re-gain their self-worth
and, ultimately, get them back in the workplace.
With recent record-breaking youth unemployment
- the work of charities like The Prince’s Trust with vulnerable
young people is more critical than ever.
The Prince's Trust launched additional support for young people
with mental health needs on its Team
programme four years ago and has been increasing this support
year-on-year ever since. More than 8,200 young people to date have
benefited from the Working for Wellbeing
project, which is funded by Zurich Community Trust.
The Prince’s Trust provides a range of personal development programmes, pre-apprenticeship
schemes and mentoring to help young people into jobs. Three in
four young people supported by The Prince’s Trust move into work,
education or training.
We will be tweeting and facebooking about the
Youth Index throughout January. Follow the conversation using the
hashtag #YouthIndex
Youth Index 2013 live webchat
On Thursday 17th January at 12.30pm The Prince’s Trust will be
holding a live webchat focussing on issues that affect young people
today – including unemployment and mental health.
Find out more about the webchat and how
you can take part.
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