Children as young as 10 years old think they will need to leave the area where they live to achieve what they want in life, a new study from the Co-op has revealed, spotlighting the unfair realities young people across the UK are facing.

Despite the Government’s defining mission to ‘level up the UK,’ by giving everyone the opportunity to ‘stay local but go far,’ through the recently published Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, less than 4 in 10 young people (36%) believe that what the Government does will have a positive impact on their life.

Towns and villages across the UK will see their talent pool reduce by almost half, with 48% of 10 – 25-year-olds set to pack their bags and look for opportunities elsewhere, mirroring an increased belief that relocating is essential to achieve their goals. And when it comes to education and career opportunities, over a quarter (28%) of young people feel there are too few where they live.

Lack of opportunities is also an emerging theme coming out of the Peer Action Collective (PAC), with young people telling peer researchers about a scarcity of opportunities in their local area. Young people also told the PAC researchers that rising travel costs were an issue and a barrier to accessing opportunities where they live.

With more than three-quarters of young people (76%) wanting to do something that makes a difference in either their area or wider society, the lack of fair opportunities risks dismantling young people’s ambitions for the future and the chance for them to make a positive difference to wider society.

Year 10 student Rae Daly, aged 14, said: “I know that if I were to stay in my hometown that my future career would be a lot more difficult to achieve as there’s a lack of opportunities for me. I’m about to start my exams and already I’m having to think beyond them and where I’ll need to move to in a few years’ time – adding even more worry.

“The government needs to give more focus to young people my age and provide better opportunities to help us with our future.”

Cost of living crisis deepening existing inequalities

The research demonstrates that young people are acutely aware of the inequalities facing them when thinking about their future education and work. Almost half (47%) of 10-25 year olds see financial pressures as one of the top five challenges they will face in the next 12 months, whilst over a half (54%) of 13 – 25-year-olds feel it will be harder to save money for their future.

When it comes to work and careers, nearly a third of young people (29%) believe the rising costs will make it harder for them to get a job and a fifth (16%) of 10 – 25-year-olds feel it will affect their career goals.

The rising cost of living presents fresh mental wellbeing challenges for young people with over a third (35%) of 13 – 25 years olds believing the rising price of everyday things will negatively impact their long-term mental health, this is a particular concern amongst older age groups, with nearly half (45%) of 21-25 year olds.

In response to the findings Co-op is today announcing a 3-year Virtual Work Experience programme, working with Springpod to reduce the barriers to opportunity for young people. The programme will see 26,000 young people from disadvantaged communities develop experience, confidence and skills to ready them for a range of careers.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, Interim CEO of Co-op said: “With young people, bearing the brunt of yet another national crisis, now more than ever, we need to take urgent action to tackle inequality of opportunity, levelling up for young people everywhere and to look from a business community as to how we can support.

“Young people are the DNA and future of this country, aspiring to so much – but as the research shows while talent is spread across every community, opportunity is not. Too many feel that owing to accessibility of opportunities and the rising cost of living they won’t have the chance to achieve their aspirations.

“At the Co-op we believe that young people should hope for better and have the fairy tale ending they so rightly deserve. That’s why we have a number of youth-led programmes, including our Young Members’ Board, our innovative virtual work experience programme, to our work with the Peer Action Collective (PAC), all helping to give young people fairer access to opportunities and come together to make their voices heard. Also, our Co-op Academies Trust is already working in many of the Education Investment Areas highlighted by Government as needing more support.”

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