Unemployed young people are struggling to cope, warns charity

A report published today by the Prince’s Trust found 10 per cent of young people feel they cannot cope with day-to-day life, but this result rose to 22 per cent when Neets were asked the same question.

More than 2,100 16- to 25-year-olds were interviewed by the charity for the study, which also found almost a third of Neet young people did not have someone to talk to about their problems while they were growing up.

Alan Kennedy, director of operations at the Prince’s Trust, said the organisation was concerned about the growing number of long-term unemployed young people.
 
“Our research tells us that young people not in work, education or training are more likely to feel down or depressed and struggle to cope,” said Kennedy.

“If we don’t help these young people, we risk them becoming a lost generation – not just unemployed but unemployable.”

The report showed the detrimental effect the poor job market had on young people, with almost half of the Neet interviewees saying they felt down or depressed “always” or “often”, compared with 27 per cent of employed young people.

Richard Parish, chief executive of the Royal Society of Public Health, said organisations like the Prince’s Trust had a “critical” role to play in supporting vulnerable young people.

“The Youth Index clearly shows a worrying discrepancy between young people who are in work and those who are not,” said Parish.

“These unemployed young people need support to regain their self-worth and, ultimately, get them back in the workplace.”

Kennedy said organisations needed to work in partnership with government, charities and employers to help you people find employment.

“It is only through these collaborations with employers and also with government that we can really turn the situation around, tackling the youth unemployment problem and getting the most disadvantaged back in the workplace,” he said.