Youth aspirations

Young people from the UK’s poorest families believe that they will achieve little or nothing in life, according to a new report from The Prince’s Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The research found that 26% of those from deprived homes believe that “few” or “none” of their career goals are achievable, compared to just 7% of those from more well off backgrounds.

Interviews with over 2,000 16- to 24-year-olds from across the UK revealed that young people growing up in poverty are significantly less likely to imagine finding a job in the future. The poorest young people are almost four times as likely to think they will “end up in a dead-end job”.

These findings come on the back of a string of cuts affecting young people’s job prospects. The government has, for example, scrapped the Future Jobs Fund, aimed at helping young unemployed people back into work, and abolished the Education Maintenance Allowance — the mean-tested grant to help young people stay on at school and college.