England faces a wholesale closure of youth organisations, leaving a generation of vulnerable young people without life-changing support, according to research.

Almost two-thirds of youth organisations with incomes under £250,000 say they are at risk of closure, with 31% saying they might have to shut in the next six months.

The forced withdrawal of support officially recognised as “essential” comes at a time when the pandemic has left more than 1.5 million vulnerable young people in critical need of help, the research by the charity UK Youth found.

The responses from 1,759 youth organisations in England revealed that 58% are operating at a reduced level, with a further 20% temporarily closed or preparing to permanently close.

More than half of unemployed young people feel anxious about everyday life situations with many claiming to avoid meeting new people, according to a report on wellbeing among youths.

Nearly six out of 10 unemployed young people polled said anxiety had stopped them from sleeping well, over half said feeling anxious stopped them from asking for help while 41% said it stopped them from leaving the house, according to a survey of 2,265 16 to 25-year-olds published in a new report by youth charity the Prince’s Trust.

Martina Milburn, the chief executive of the Prince’s Trust, said: “Thousands of young people feel like prisoners in their own homes.

“Without the right support, these young people become socially isolated – struggling with day-to-day life and slipping further and further from the jobs market.”

While 20% of young people polled agreed to the statement that they were “falling apart” emotionally on a regular basis, the figure increases to 33% among unemployed young people.

Other findings in this year’s Youth Index shows that of those polled, 46% of unemployed young people said that they avoid meeting new people, while 39% said that they find it difficult to make eye contact with other people.

The number of young adults living with their parents has increased by a quarter since 1996, official figures show, with high house prices and growing youth unemployment forcing many to remain in the family home.

A total of 3.3 million 20- to 34-year-olds lived with their parents in 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics, the highest number since it started keeping records in 1996.

Over that period the number of young adults sharing a home with their parents rose by 25%, despite the proportion of the population aged between 20 and 34 remaining broadly the same.

The ONS data showed that people were most likely to live with their parents in their early 20s, with 49% of 20- to 24-year-olds in the family home, compared to 21% of 25- to 29-year-olds, and 8% of 34-year-olds – and it is the percentage of the youngest age group that has increased most noticeably, rising from 42% in 2008.

This story adds grist to the mill in reflecting how hard it is all for all young people at the current time to find a job. We know this position is worst in rural areas where the lower density of jobs restricts choice even more. The article tells us:

“More than 450,000 young people have been unable to make the transition from learning into work as employers have increasingly changed what it is they look for when hiring, with many under-25s in the UK unable to match the skills needed, according to a new study.
The report from the Work Foundation argues that as jobs have moved from production to service-led roles over the past decade, employers increasingly require “softer” skills such as good communication or working as part of a team more than technical ability.”

“There are more than a million people under 25 who are unemployed in the UK, according to the internationally agreed measure of unemployment. Graduates are leaving university and finding that the only jobs they can find are in supermarkets or cafes.

It has been clear for some time that the recession of the past five years has had a disproportionate effect on the young, but a report by the Economic and Social Research Council shows just how tough life has become.

When the economy was growing strongly before the slump, 50% of young people out of work in 2006 had found a job by 2007. Three years later, that percentage had almost halved; only 27% of those young and unemployed in 2009 were in work a year later.”

The person from Kendal says: “The job-seeking system isn’t really set up for graduates, or people with a lot of previous employment like me. All the training and support they have is fantastic if you’re 16 and haven’t many qualifications. But the jobs they point me towards – and I have to apply for them – often aren’t particularly suitable. I’m in a much better position than many other people because I’ve been able to move back home to Kendal. It’s a bit weird. I haven’t lived here since 2005 and all my friends have moved away. I don’t know that many people here any more. But it could be worse. My rent is minimal.”

I am sure that in the Farmers of the Future Project which we evaluated in Teesdale I have seen a viable alternative to some of this, which provides scope for those who want to work and live in their rural localities to make a reasonable fist of doing just that. There isn’t space to tell the full tale here but in essence the programme involved supporting 12 young people by providing them with the certificated skills to work as farm contractors, underpinned by real life experiences in agricultural settings and significant encouragement to develop and hone their entrepreneurial skills. Most of them have used this combination of self employment and their new skill base to carve a niche out for themselves in their own localities. One has even been providing employment for a couple of other trainees he met on the scheme. None have gone past the ripe old age of 21 yet. I am currently working up a Leader proposal to develop a similar scheme in North Notts/Lincolnshire based on retail and food processing placements. We are desperate to find a modest amount of matched funding to make the whole thing viable – if you have any ideas PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I genuinely think this approach can work over many sectors in many different types of rural economies.

If you want more evidence of young people’s enthusiasm to work in none traditional office environments, including from home have a look at this interesting companion article in the telegraph