Youth Opportunities Tracker: Fairer Futures’ shows young people face an uncertain future

The Co-op has worked with Barnardo’s on a major new piece of research with young people.

One of the largest studies of its kind, ‘Youth Opportunities Tracker: Fairer Futures’, looks at the experiences, life chances and aspirations of over 5,000 10–25-year-olds across the UK. It shows young people face a very uncertain future.

The findings uncover how the cost of living and long-term effects of the pandemic has had a seismic impact on the decisions that young people are having to make day-to-day when it comes to basic needs, aspirations for their future, and mental wellbeing.

Some of the stark realities facing young people:

• ‘Having enough money to cover basic needs’ (89%) is the most common aspiration among young people today, above ‘achieving their dream job’ and ‘buying a house’
• A third (35%) of young people say their family has used food support in the last six months, while a quarter (23%) have started the day without a meal
• Two fifths (41%) of young people have worried about their mental wellbeing in the last six months, while 42% worry about how their parents/carers are coping with the cost of living
• Despite a challenging few years, the number of young people wanting to make a difference to society has increased

Watch this video to find out more.