Some 51% of young people asked, want more youth work that offers fun activities in their local area, increasing to 57% among 18-and 19-year-olds and dropping to 45% among 16- and 17-year-olds.
One in 10 young people polled said there are “no options at all” to access youth services in their area, while 66% said that there are “very few” or “some, but not enough”.
Just 16% reported that there are “plenty of options” near to where they live.
The findings come from a survey of 1,170 young people, commissioned by the NYA and carried out by Savanta earlier this year.
The top reasons cited by respondents for accessing youth work is to build their confidence, to make friends, to learn new things, or because they enjoy it.
The survey highlights the impact of youth work on young people’s mental health with those who attend regularly proving more likely to report a greater wellbeing impact.
Alex Stutz, head of knowledge at the NYA said: “The survey throws into sharp relief the huge benefits of youth work to young people’s mental and physical wellbeing, self-confidence and sense of belonging – factors which are essential for young people to stay well and make a positive contribution to their communities.
“This is especially so when people attend regularly, enabling them to form meaningful friendships and develop essential life skills which will set them in good stead for their futures”.
The research further highlights the impact of youth work on young women’s and girl’s mental health with 56% of females saying they are interested in accessing services to improve their mental health compared with 39% of males.
Some 58% of respondents who took part in youth work in the last year said it made them feel valued and included “a great deal” or “quite a bit”, this figure increased to 72% amongst Black respondents.
The results have led to further calls for investment in youth work by the next government.
Harriet McCann, director of policy and communications at NYA, said: “We estimate that £812 million is needed to build a sufficient level of high quality, open access youth provision, to meet the needs of young people across England.
“A failure to invest will result in much more costly targeted interventions later on, with many more young people missing out on the opportunity to evolve and flourish into confident young adults, who are able to make a positive contribution to their local communities. We stand ready to work with the future government to ensure that young people receive the investment they deserve and so urgently need.”
Speaking to the CYP Now Podcast, young people have called for greater investment in services to improve their mental health from the three main political parties.
In its election manifesto, the Labour Party has committed to creating a series of youth hubs to reduce levels of violence among young people while the Liberal Democrats have said they will “invest” in youth services. Neither party has provided an estimated cost for these pledges.
The Conservative Party has said it will introduce National Service – in the form of military service or volunteering – for 18 – to 25-year-olds.
The NYA survey highlights a greater desire from 16- and 17-year-olds for services offering employment skills activities than their 18- and 19-year-old counterparts.
