Youth Index 2017 – a concerning outlook for young people

Date: 10th January 2017
Category: Mental health

The 2017 Prince's Trust Macquarie Youth Index warns that more than a quarter of young people (28%) don't feel in control of their lives, with concerns about job prospects, self-confidence and recent political events playing on young minds.

The Youth Index, sponsored by Macquarie, is a national survey that gauges young people's wellbeing across a range of areas from family life to physical health. The latest report demonstrates that young people's wellbeing is at its lowest level since the Index was first commissioned.
The eighth Index - based on a survey of 2,215 young people aged 16 to 25 - reveals that many young people are feeling trapped by their circumstances, with almost a fifth (18%) saying they don't believe they can change their circumstances if they want to. The research also reveals that 16% think their life will amount to nothing, no matter how hard they try.

The report highlights a wide range of factors that could be contributing to young people feeling out of control of their lives. For example, one in ten young people (12%) claim they don't know anyone who 'really cares' about them, 45% feel stressed about body image and 37% feel stressed about how to cope at work or school. Of those young people who don't feel in control, 61% feel a lack of self-confidence holds them back.

Key findings:

- More than a quarter of young people (28 per cent) do not feel in control of their lives;
- A third of young people (36 per cent) do not feel in control of their job prospects;
- More than one in ten (16 per cent) think their life will amount to nothing, no matter how hard they try;
- A fifth of young people (18 per cent) do not think they have the ability to change their circumstances if they want to;
- The situation is even worse for NEET young people, who are more likely to feel worried about their circumstances and future;
- 34 per cent of young people think they will have a worse standard of living than their parents;
- 42 per cent of young people feel traditional goals like owning a house or getting a steady job are unrealistic.

• Visit the Princes Trust Youth Index 2017 webpage here.