Last week we were delighted to launch our All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Inquiry for Youth Employment in Westminster. The inquiry will look into how mental health and how it is affecting young people accessing the labour market.
It was great to see so many people come together to learn and provide evidence on the impact of mental ill-health among young people on them trying to access employment. Shaun Bailey MP chaired the meeting and invited guest speakers to provide their understanding and experience of ill-mental health and accessing work.
Our Youth Ambassador Kelsey thought the day was incredible and said “It was nice to see so many different people in the room who care about Youth Employment.” These topics can be triggering and it was brave of our Youth Ambassadors to share their personal experiences. Kelsey said she felt “safe and respected in sharing my journey.”
The guest speakers included two of our incredible Youth Ambassadors Kelsey and Toni-Ann, as it is important to hear from young people on issues impacting them. No one person’s experience is the same, but both of the Youth Ambassadors mentioned that they found it difficult to find support for their mental health when in work and when looking for work, which further increased their anxiety. One of our Youth Ambassadors said, when in employment they “were offered phone services whereby we could talk through our issues, later a year into the pandemic, myself, managers, supervisors etc, were offered first aid courses in mental health wellbeing. It was better than not having anything.”
One of our Youth Ambassadors spoke about accessibility and that they, “had to consider the accessibility of a job before applying,” which put more pressure on them and made them feel that they had to work even harder to try and get a job. They went on further to say that, “when looking for work I have been anxious about my health and feel like I need to present as someone who is able-bodied to show that I am capable of doing the work. It has been difficult to get support around accessibility, as hidden disabilities are not always understood or believed, this has left me feeling confused.”
Youth Ambassadors also spoke about having a lack of experience and qualifications and how this made them feel, but also acted as a barrier to accessing work. “I feel like I do not fit into certain job criteria because I do not have the right qualifications or enough work experience, this has further impacted my mental health negatively.”
The pandemic impacted young people greatly and as Youth Employment UK’s Youth Voice Census showed a lot of young people feel lonely and unsure of who to go to for support. Both Youth Ambassadors explained what support and what they would like to see in the workplace to make sure that young people feel their mental health and well-being is being supported.
“This problem is only going to improve for young people if we start creating a working world that isn’t afraid to ask if someone is okay, because if we don’t do that, we can’t repair systems that are creating this mental health crisis.”
“They would also have like to have seen my employer being more open to hearing about my health struggles and provide more in work support so I could excel like the rest of the team.”
The Youth Ambassadors both explained that more support is needed when it comes to mental health and accessing work and “only paying lip service to the problem of mental health wellbeing, creates far more problems.”
