Do young people have a stake in the future of our rural communities? Jessica Sellick investigates.

Frozen out of getting a foot on the property ladder, the most economically active moving out, negative stereotyping and a lack of things to do and places to hang out - what does the future hold for young people? What support do they need to fulfil their potential? And what is the role of Government, communities, parents/carers and young people? Jessica Sellick investigates.

In the UK, there isn’t one law that defines the age of a child –under health and safety rules a child is anyone who has not reached the minimum school leaving age and a young person is anyone under 18 years. The Children Acts 1989 and 2004 and Children and Families Act 2014 combined this to define children and young people as up to the age of 18 years; with ‘vulnerable young people’ are entitled to support beyond 18 years. Guidance issued to child psychologists in 2013 recommended they raise the young person age range that they work with from 0-18 years to 0-25 years.

At an international level, the United Nations defines ‘youth’ as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years – but distinguishes between ‘teenagers’ (those aged 13-19 years) and ‘young adults’ (those aged 20-24 years). And the World Health Organization defines young people as between 10 and 24 years of age and adolescence as between 10 and 19 years.

Taken as a collective, these definitions reveal there is no one understanding of young people shared by all agencies and communities; nor the broader context in which a young person moves from childhood to adulthood.

Government policy can be equally confusing and disjointed. Support for children and young people can be found within the Department for Education, Education Funding Agency, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, Department for Work and Pensions and Home Office. With the support offered ranging from careers guidance, health and wellbeing and post 16; to looked after children, school funding and data collection/analysis.

‘Positive for Youth’, published in 2010, was intended to bring together all the relevant Government departments for the first time to create a single plan for young people. Defining young people as those aged 13-19 years, the document described how “young people’s experiences outside of formal learning, at home and in their community are also crucial in enabling them to form and pursue their ambitions and prepare them for work and adult life” (page 1). The document contained a plethora of policies to support parents and carers, help young people to learn and find a job; help young people develop a sense of belonging; look out for vulnerable young people; and prevent crime. Many of these actions have now been subsumed into improving education, supporting more people to study (i.e., raising the participation age to 18 years) and providing wider opportunities. This includes involving young people in national and local decision making through the Youth Voice programme, which includes the UK Youth Parliament, Youth Select Committee, National Scrutiny Group, focus groups and support for local youth councils and young mayors.

Alongside this, the Government has set up a number of initiatives to help young people start enterprises – as part of its drive for ‘jobs and growth’ - from Start Up Loans scheme and Business in You campaigns to the provision of apprenticeships and vocational training. The CBI has put forward a set of practical policies that government and business could deliver for young people – a structured programme of preparation for work and where academic and vocational routes are equally valued.

Schemes led by other bodies include The Prince’s Trust which supports young people aged 13-30 years by providing financial, practical and skills support for work. Other innovative projects include vInspired which provides 14-25 year olds with volunteering opportunities and encourages young people to set up their own projects with funding from cashpoint (‘change the world with £500’). And Auto22, part of charity Catch22, provides young people with real life work experience in garages.

This has opened up a series of debates:

(i) whether the Government by protecting the schools budget has led to disproportionate funding reductions elsewhere, particularly the budget for post-18 education and support.

(ii) Whether careers guidance is now an afterthought following the transfer of responsibility passing from Local Authorities to individual schools, with many opting out of providing fully qualified careers advisors altogether. Is it left to teachers to help young people plot their route from education to work?

(iii) In December 2014, the Fabian Society published ‘out of sight’. The report highlights the reasons why we have stopped talking about NEETs (young people who are not in education, employment or training) and how official NEET numbers understate the scale of the problem at a local level. The report calls for Local Authorities to prioritise the issue and convene key partners – using their leadership and influence and rediscovering their appetite for leading local education and skills agenda. Whether the estimate that more than 50,000 people aged 16-18 years have gone ‘missing’ from the figures are accurate; the issues the report raises are particularly acute for young people in rural areas with limited choices and expensive travel challenges.

(iv) On the matter of ‘unpaid internships’, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs suggested placing a 3 month limit on placements if organisations cannot afford to pay the young person and for the young person to be given a contract in advance of the internship so all parties are aware of what is expected of them.

Yet what all the definitions, policies and debates miss – and some of the more innovative projects are trying to attend to - is that what many young people actually want is to have a stake in their local community.

Many young people want meaningful study and work engagement and job opportunities. Many young people want youth services and inspirational support. While some would argue that investing in young people is one of the most important investments societies can make, often young people are left feeling misrepresented and powerless. I offer three points.

Firstly, the strain of growing demand and underfunding means many youth centres are closing (or thriving thanks to volunteers). Youth clubs that act as ‘hubs’, housed in community buildings offering fun, structured activities, social space and support after school, on weekends and during school holidays provide young people with a focus and agencies with a coordination point to offer wider support.

Secondly, young people need a stronger voice in the provision of good services. This needs to go beyond formal consultation where young people often feel their views aren’t fully considered and/or where nothing ever happens as a result of their input. Linked to youth clubs/hubs there are increasing opportunities here around social media and online networking. Does Facebook, Twitter and developments in cloud based technologies enable us to find new and innovative ways of accessing and sharing information with young people and involving them more fully in decision making?

Thirdly, young people need a stronger voice in their local communities. While intergenerational activities can increase understanding and build shared experiences in local communities; do we also need more peer-led projects and young advisors? And a renewed focus on perspectives from young people living and growing up in rural areas?

What is clear is that current discussions are centred on finding new ways for young people to re-enter and re-engage in traditional ways in the fields of education, employment and training. However, this approach overlooks some ‘elephants in the room’, namely – from the perspective of the jobs and growth agenda – how vast numbers of young people may become over-qualified and under-employed despite their hard work.

And from the perspective of young people having a stake in their rural community, how accessing transport (private car or bus service), lack of affordable housing, a low wage (seasonal) economy are real challenges which can lead them to migrate. For those that want to, how can we support young people to have a stake and stay in the countryside?

Jessica is a researcher/project manager at Rose Regeneration; an economic development business working with communities, Government and business to help them achieve their full potential. She is currently undertaking a European project on ‘social value’as well as carrying out research for the Lottery on community businesses. In a personal capacity Jessica is the interim chair of Bristol Playbus. She can be contacted by email jessica.sellick@roseregeneration.co.uk or telephone 01522 521211. Website: www.roseregeneration.co.uk; Twitter: @RoseRegen