YE2030: The Impact of Covid-19 on young people, in their words

Youth Employment 2030 (YE2030) have launched their report Employment and Prospects for Young People in England Post-Covid-19. 

This youth-led project included 10 young people aged 16 to 25 years from England working with a team of experienced researchers as part of a co-creation group.  Alongside this, 13 young people were recruited and trained as peer researchers and conducted 121 interviews with young people from a diverse range of lived experiences. 

The research sought to understand the impact Covid-19 is having on young people’s employment and prospects and to find solutions to create a better future for this generation. The interviews looked to gain insight into their experiences and hear what suggestions they have to make towards improving their employment and future opportunities for young people.

This research was done in partnership with Blagrave Trust, ClearView Research and Leaders Unlocked. 

Key Findings

Whilst this research aimed to focus directly on the impacts of Covid-19, the co-creation discussions highlighted that many of the issues raised were underlying pre-pandemic and have been made even more visible because of the pandemic. The biggest challenges the co-creation group raised whilst co-designing this project were; not being properly prepared for the working world once they left education; not having enough quality career guidance to help them access further employment or training opportunities. 

Young people answering the interviews and surveys reported varying degrees of feeling prepared and equipped to begin looking for work or training opportunities. They also spoke about how there is unequal opportunity; those who have contacts or are ‘smarter’ get more support, whilst those from disadvantaged backgrounds or need more education support do not get the extra support and guidance that they need. 

Employability skills and careers education

The report found that the majority of young people want more and better quality work experience opportunities and that young people are worried that in a post-Covid-19 labour market they will be competing for less job opportunities with people with more years experience. 

• 20% of young people say that the main barrier to finding work in  the career they want is the access to work experience. 
  • 32% go further to say that work experience opportunities is the most useful support they could receive right now.

The co-creation group also found life skills training is missing in education and is another barrier to success. In particular young people said training in real life skills; from how to manage a household (use a washing machine etc.) to managing their finances. 

Limited careers advice

Young people said current career guidance is limited at best and non-existent at worst. It was noted that Sixth Form and University routes were well covered with little provision for other routes. Due to Covid-19 restriction and lockdown measures, many young people will have missed out of professional careers guidance. 

• When asked to rank their main source of careers information, 26% said family, 13% said online jobs boards, 11% said friends, 10% said  Google at 10% and 5% said careers advisors.

Working and learning from home

The research showed that young people were not confident in working and learning from home and many were not confident about working and learning from home in the future too. 

• 55% of young people are not confident in working/learning from home
• 41% have studied at home
• 21% have worked from home. 

Not all young people have the equipment they need to study/work from home. If studying and working remotely is going to be part of young people’s futures, then the right equipment, training and support needs to be given by providers/employers so they can adapt and grow..

What are young people looking for in a job?

The three priorities for young people when looking for a job were: 

• Fulfilling work that they enjoy (66%)
• Good pay (63%)
• Security of income (27%). 

Mental health and wellbeing

When asked about their mental health, the most impacted young people are those already facing challenges in their lives. 

• Overall, 35% of young people have experienced mental health issues due to Covid-19. This figure is much higher for those facing other challenges; 
  • gender discrimination (54%)
  • sexual orientation discrimination (70%) 
  • disability (73%) are more likely to face mental health issues as a direct result of the pandemic. 

Young people feel like mental health shouldn’t just be a catchphrase and is something that should be fully addressed by employers; allowing time off to prioritise their wellbeing, rather than them having to push through until it becomes overwhelming and they have to take time off or fall out of employment entirely. 

The research found that young people feel like giving up before they even start due to the hyper-negative media coverage around mass unemployment; they feel there isn’t enough focus on how businesses are adapting to cope with the pandemic, to retain or even hire new staff. 

• 58% of young people in England were considering becoming an entrepreneur in order to create their own opportunity in a labour market where limited ones exist.

However young people remain resilient and are solution driven; across the survey and interview young people were keen to provide solutions to the problems rather than ‘moan’ about them. 

Inequality of opportunity and support

The research found that not all young people had access to the same level of support or opportunity. Those who were already facing some level of disadvantage were more likely to be impacted and more negatively. 

• Young people with disabilities are not being as supported to work or learn remotely and as a result are more likely to delay or leave education and training due to Covid-19. 
• Black Caribbean young people are more likely to have been furloughed 
• Those that identify as Black Caribbean or Asian Pakistani are more likely than other ethnic groups to have had their working hours during the pandemic. 
• Young people feel this discrimination will get worse now there are less opportunities than before.

The most financially challenged young people were much more likely to say finance is as a barrier moving into the labour market. That said, all young people thought financial barriers would be greater than before the pandemic.

Recommendations

1. Increased and accessible work experience opportunities, especially in remote areas/ specific regions of England where these are even more limited.
2. Life skills training, including personal finance management, for all young people. 
3. Provide young people (& career advisors) with more information about alternative career paths rather than academic routes only.
4. Create links between industry and schools so young people can get access to mentors in their field of choice.
5. More training opportunities, including internships, apprenticeships and traineeships, with more appropriate payment.
6. Develop an information hub that shares information with young people about all the opportunities available to them (not just academic opportunities).
7. Tailored support or advice to overcome the diverse challenges faced by young people.
8. Further research into the effects of Covid-19 on young people hardest hit.
9. Create more meaningful investment opportunities for young people who want to become entrepreneurs.
10. Increased training and university opportunities so this is not a barrier to success.
11. Provide young people with support to work/ study remotely.
12. Mental health evaluation and support from a young age & better mental health support in the workplace.

Our Thoughts

Youth Voice is a crucial part of our work and is so important if we are to make the future better for our young people. We know that young people have been impacted the most during this pandemic in terms of their education and employment prospects. This report, co-created with young people gives interesting insights into how they are feeling since this pandemic started. Many of their findings are linked to existing barriers and challenges that have been made worse by the pandemic. 

Our Youth Voice Census 2020 builds on the work of the previous censuses, alongside what we hear from young people in our network everyday; young people do not feel prepared for the world of work. Work experience opportunities and their quality, poor quality and limited careers advice, lack of holistic skills support, mental health concerns, discrimination concerns and other inequalities are making it really tough for young people to get where they want to be.

We are delighted to be working with YE2030 and supporting them with the recommendations they have made.