Like most young residents of Skye, 16-year-old Marie Mackay accepts she will have to leave the island because of lack of opportunity. The Highers student is on the executive committee of Highland Youth Voice, a young people's parliament for Scotland, and lives in a village with about 400 inhabitants. "Most young people end up moving away," she says.
"Some come back, some just settle where they are. I'll probably leave the island myself for a while, just to get away from all the quietness."
Different pressures
Research carried out for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation backs up Mackay's experience. Its report, Youth Unemployment in Rural Areas and Young People in Rural Scotland, found that young adults living in rural areas are far more likely than their urban peers to experience social exclusion. The reasons for this are complex: geographical isolation, badly paid work in unrewarding jobs, transport problems and housing shortages are particular problems.
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