Sky News #BigIdeasLive Podcast: How do we build back better for young people after COVID?

PODCAST: Our CEO Laura-Jane Rawlings explores how we build back better for young people after COVID on the Sky News #BigIdeasLive Podcast.

Building Back Better For Young People: Youth Voice Census Findings

I was invited to contribute to the Sky News #BigIdeasLive Podcasts which asks how we build back better for young people after COVID.

You can listen to the podcast here

4 Key barriers faced by young people today

It was moving to hear from a recent graduate who shared the impact COVID had on her and her aspirations; she was able to reflect on the experiences amongst her peers.

In the discussion I shared some of the key findings from this year’s Youth Voice Census. Tellingly, the barriers that young people themselves said they faced could be grouped into four key areas:

• Growing mental health concerns
• Catching up
• Accessing quality work
• No place for young people

We Need To Create Space For Young People To Talk. And We Need To Listen.

The key point from the Census – and one I tried to bring to life in the podcast – is that we should all be working harder to listen to young people. We should let them tell us what they need to build back better.

Policy and services should not be designed without young people.

Here at Youth Employment UK, our key services are shaped from the ground up with input from young people – because they are the ones who need those services. We listen to them, because it matters.