UK Youth central to new government plans

UK Youth will play a major role in a significant strand of the new youth policy unveiled by Tim Loughton MP, the Minister responsible for Children and Families.
The Department for Education's Positive for Youth policy has been launched on the same day as O2 releases Youth Matters, a major piece of research into the current attitudes and feelings of young people. As predicted the government is not making any fresh funding available for youth service provision at a local level. Instead the policy calls on Local Authorities to engage young people in policy-making. It will also promote the benefits of partnership between voluntary youth organisations and businesses, referencing successful programmes like 02 Think Big and Starbucks Youth Action. UK Youth will work with Business in the Community and the National Children's Bureau to develop a simple model for brokering these kinds of relationships and a national, regional and local level.
Regardless of the economic circumstances businesses should be supporting young people and we are delighted to be part of the consortium that will make this happen. We also welcome this push to involve young people in shaping local youth policy. While working with government we will continue to press them hard to prioritise young people in their broader spending plans. Charlotte Hill, Chief Executive UK Youth.
The Youth Matters report - available in full at the bottom of the page - reveals a worrying level of despondency among young people. Researchers interviewed 1,500 16-24 year-olds about their lives, looking at the challenges they face and their thoughts on particular issues. Below are some of the headline statistics.


23% of young people feel depressed about their future.
54% of young people would consider leaving the UK and travelling abroad to find employment.
65% of young people would care more about politics if they felt their opinions were being listened to.