Young people and jobs

The Princes Trust raise some very important points about how being without work can affect young people. Our society presents many pressures for young people, to belong, to posses, to participate, to contribute. This would be hard enough, but without work the pressure is even greater. Today the Princes Trust has published a significant insight into how being jobless affects our young people. The effects are profound, lack of identity, insomnia, family breakdown, self harm, depression and suicide. These are not things we should be proud of as a society, and not things we should accept for

The difference in happiness and confidence between those in work and education and those who are not are stark. What I see are young people who do want opportunity and without this there is an underlying hopelessness, this isn't the reaction of people who don't want to work, who don't want to contribute. We have to try to help younger people to get into work and education, I don't see how the current government is doing this with its cut backs, and the increase in tuition fees. It is organisations like the Princes Trust that seem to be trying most. What are large corporate organisations doing to help? They have opportunities for young people, they also have skilled people who could mentor and support young people.

They are our future.

The whole report is here http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/pdf/Youth_Index_jan2011.pdf