The Story Vol 21

THE STORY
STATISTICS, TRENDS AND RESEARCH FOR YOUTH WORK
BIG PICTURE:
‘RUSSIA AND UKRAINE’
P.6–7
NEW RESEARCH:
HALF A MILLION VIEWS
P.4–5
youthscape.co.uk/research
VOL. 21
SPRING
2022

WELCOME TO
THE STORY
To be notified about new issues or
subscribe for printed copies visit
www.youthscape.co.uk/research/
the-story
In each issue of The Story we bring you
some of the latest research related to young
people and youth work. We look for statistics,
research and trends which can shape your
work with young people – informing your
thinking and practice.
As I write, it’s been three weeks since the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps a
peaceful resolution has been reached by the
time you read this, perhaps not. Either way,
this conflict is having significant repercussions
around the world. There will undoubtedly be
studies that help us understand how young
people have been and will be affected, but
for now there is very little information beyond
what we hear in the news. We have pulled
together what we could find on young people
and the conflict, on pages 6–7. The Children’s
Commissioner for England has published
a survey of over half a million children and
young people, and pages 4–5 highlight some
interesting stats, that we think challenge the
idea that young people with fewer resources
have low aspirations.
On page 3 you’ll find new research on young
people’s financial situation, and don’t forget
to turn to the back page for some curious
correlations we’ve observed in the Youthscape
office as we run up to Easter.
Thanks for reading,
Lucie Shuker
Director of Research, Youthscape
IN THIS ISSUE:
SNAPSHOT:
Generation Precariat
NEW RESEARCH:
Half a million views
BIG PICTURE:
‘Russia and Ukraine’
YOUTH WORK DIAGRAMS:
Curious patterns
EVERYTHING YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT…
DIGITAL WELL-BEING
Research News
P.3
P.4–5
P.6–7
P.8
REVERSE
The Centre for Research is partnering with
Youth Alpha, Hope Together, Scripture Union,
Youth for Christ, Church Army and the Church
of England on new research exploring how
young people share faith with their peers.
It should be launched in a few months time,
and we’ll share the findings in our next
edition of The Story.
P.2

SNAPSHOT: Generation Precariat
As part of the Young people’s future health
and economic security project, the Health
Foundation and the RSA conducted an online
survey of 1178 16–24 year olds (weighted to
be representative by gender and region). The
survey ran in September/October 2021, in
the context of concern about increases in the
cost of living, rising energy prices, the end of
the furlough scheme and just as the Universal
Credit uplift ended. 1
Overall, only 41% of those surveyed believe
they will be able to own their own home in the
future and 51% believe they could earn enough
to support a family or to have a comfortable
retirement.
38% of the 16–18 year olds surveyed are in a
precarious financial position 2 and 39% of 16–18
year olds have access to their own savings.
Those suffering from financial precarity are far
more likely to be concerned about their physical
or mental health and their future, and Black
young people are significantly more likely to be
financially precarious than both white and Asian
young people (70% compared to 47% and 45%
respectively).
Precious, 17 years old:
“A lot of the time wages do not
align with living expenses
making it harder for young people
to save or even have disposable
income as all their money goes to
necessities”.
Angel, 17 years old:
“As a young individual who
resides in [a London borough],
I am aware of the deprivation in
the borough, where employment
opportunities don’t provide the
economic stability needed”.
According to the Office for National Statistics
(ONS), the highest proportion of low-paid workers
by age is among 16–21-year-olds, with 59% paid
less than two-thirds of median hourly pay.
National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage
rates from April 2022, by age. 3
23 &
over
National
Living
Wage
21–22
18–20
Under
18
National Minimum Wage
Apprentice
Hourly rate
(from April 2022)
£9.50
£9.18
£6.83
£4.81
£4.81
1. The scheme had benefited 900,000 16–24 year olds. 2. 21% just about manage to make ends meet, 6% can’t make ends
meet and 11% say their financial position changes month to month. 3. Source Gov.uk. Note: The apprentice rate applies to
those under 19 years old or in their first year of their apprenticeship.
P.3

NEW RESEARCH: Half a million views
The Big Ask was an online survey of 4–17 year olds
in England that ran from April to May 2021, on behalf
of The Children’s Commissioner: 557,077 children
and young people participated, making it the largest
survey of its kind ever to be conducted in England.
Unlike many surveys, data were collected from many
groups that are often under-represented in research
including those from an Irish Traveller/Gypsy
background, those supported by Youth Offending
Teams and children attending special schools.
The data here are from 9–17 year olds taking part in the survey.
Young people in the
most deprived areas
are more likely to
prioritise education
but also more likely
to be in inadequate
schools and/or be
unhappy with their
school life.
Overall, 52% said that a having a good
education was one of their top future priorities
but certain groups were more likely to say this.
• Children from the most deprived areas
(57%) compared to those in the most affluent
areas (49%).
• Children from ethnic minority backgrounds
(60%) compared to 49% of white children.
• 58% of children with SEND and 58% of
young carers.
84% of 9–17 year olds were ‘happy’ or ‘okay’
with life at school or college, while 16% were
unhappy.
Children living in more deprived areas or
attending schools rated ‘Inadequate’ were
more likely to be unhappy with life at school,
compared to other children.
P.4

Black and Asian
children and
those in deprived
neighbourhoods are
more likely to prioritise
having a good job/
career in the future.
Having a good job or career was the most
common priority for those surveyed, with 69%
saying this was a priority for when they grow
up. This is even higher among ethnic minority
children and those from a deprived background.
75% of Asian children and 76% of black children
said this was one of their top future priorities,
compared with 68% of white children.
72% of children in the most deprived
neighbourhoods said this, compared with 68%
of children in the most affluent neighbourhoods.
Children in care
Children and young people in care were more
likely than other children to be unhappy with
their family life (14%) compared to 6% of other
children.
The top three future aspirations among children
in care were:
1. A good job or career (66%)
2. Enough money to buy the things they need
(60%)
3. Good friends (57%)
Children in care were also more likely to say that
having a nice home in the future is one of their
main aspirations (43%) compared with 36.5% of
those not in care.
They were less likely than other children to
say that a healthy environment and planet is
important for their future (14% vs. 22%).
So what?
Sometimes work with
young people in lowincome
areas is aimed
at ‘raising aspirations’
but these results
suggest these young
people are more likely
than their affluent peers
to prioritise education
and a future career. For
some, it may be less an
issue of low aspirations
and more an issue of
how to achieve their
goals.
P.5

BIG PICTURE: ‘Russia and Ukraine’
At the time of publication we weren’t able to find
any research on how young people in the UK are
responding to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian
forces, but have identified a few pieces of research
that illuminate young people’s views more widely.
The political and social
views of young people in
Russia and Ukraine
Comparative surveys of young people in
Ukraine (2017) and in Russia (2019) provide a
sense of their social and political views. While
these are outdated and are likely to be have
been affected by the war, they are still useful in
providing some context. 4
• 49% of young Ukrainians said they didn’t trust
political leaders ‘at all’, and 25% ‘not very much’,
compared with 45% and 26% of young Russians
respectively.
• 72% of young Ukrainians and 75% of young
Russians said they weren’t interested in politics.
However, young Russians were more likely to
have signed petitions and participated in civil
society organisations than their peers in Ukraine.
• When asked if they would be likely to engage
in political activity, 42% of Ukrainian young
people said ‘Not at all’ and a further 25% said
‘Probably not’. These figures were 34% and 29%
respectively, for young Russians.
• The level of trust in core state institutions
expressed by young Ukrainians was extremely
low in 2017, with the army receiving the highest,
and political bodies – such as parliament or
the national government – receiving the lowest
scores.
• 50% of young Russians ‘completely agreed’
that ‘there are conflicts in every society that can
only be solved by violence’ compared with 19%
of young Ukrainians.
• 13% of young Russians and 13% of young
Ukrainians either ‘agreed ‘or ‘somewhat agreed’
that ‘my country should accept more refugees’.
• 14% of 14–17 year old Russians saw the
collapse of the Soviet Union as ‘very negative’
compared with 35% of 25–30 year old Russians.
Meanwhile in Ukraine 35% saw the dissolution
as a positive event, and a large percentage
of young people have no clear opinion on the
topic.
• Only 52% of young Russians believed that
relations between Russia and Western Europe
will ever be friendly.
P.6

Germany
In Germany, a survey of 206 13–17 year olds was
conducted on March 2nd and 3rd. It found that
9/10 teenagers were anxious and worried about
the situation in Ukraine. 5 These concerns centred
around two possibilities: first that the conflict
could ‘spill over’ to other countries and second,
that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons.
The survey found that, at the start of the month,
most German teenagers were getting most of
their information about the war from parents,
public television, and the websites of mainstream
news services. Those surveyed wanted to hear
news ‘on the ground’ followed by information
about how they could help others their own age
who had to leave their homes.
Voices from young people
affected by the war. 6
“Ukraine and Russia are two of my homelands.
I feel incredible pain, and yet I’m ashamed that
it is so. Because as I’m writing this, my family
is hiding from bombs. I don’t know when I’m
going to see them again.” (Eva, 18, a Russian-
Ukrainian in Spain)
“Throughout the 17 years of my life, I have
lived in Russia, a country that I infinitely love
and will do so in the future. But it is the country
that I love, not its government… The Russians
never wanted war. Almost every single one of
us has family or friends in Ukraine, so the news
we woke up to on 24 February was a complete
shock.” (Tamara, 17, Moscow)
Twitter and Insta poll
A short poll was hosted on Twitter and
Instagram in late February 2022, receiving more
than 400,000 responses from 18–34 year olds,
according to the hosts, Pubity. Of those who
took part.
56%
say they would
fight if their
country was
invaded
44%
believe the EU,
UK and US should
get involved in
the Ukraine
war
76%
believe wider
war will
happen
74%
are fearful the
war will impact
their lives
78%
are anxious
about their
future
“Growing up in Kazakhstan, I’ve always felt
a sense of ‘brotherhood’ and familiarity with
the other post-Soviet republics. Only a couple
of decades earlier, we were all one large
country…In Kazakhstan, like any other former
Soviet republic, there is a strong feeling that
the Ukrainian struggle against Russia is going
to define our fate as well, no matter which way
it goes.” (Ilya, 18, Kazakhstan)
4. Félix Krawatzek (2020) Young Worlds? Political and social views of young people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. 5. Ukraine-
Russia conflict has German teens terrified. 9th March 2022 https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-russia-conflict-has-german-teensterrified/a-61069344.
6. ‘This is how teenagers feel about the Russia-Ukraine war’ 15th March 2022. https://www.opendemocracy.
net/en/odr/how-teenagers-feel-russia-invasion-ukraine/
P.7

YOUTH WORK DIAGRAMS
Curious patterns
Units of coffee consumed
Incidences of anti-social behaviour
An inverse correlation
has been observed in
YS towers, whereby
the quantity of coffee,
chocolate, snacks
consumed declines,
just as the number of
passive aggressive
comments and general
hangry vibes appears to
be on the rise.
Correlation?
Causation?
Who can say…
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
WEEKS OF LENT
For more #youthworkdiagrams follow us on Twitter @YWresearch
IMAGINE THAT
Bute Mills, 74 Bute Street,
Luton, LU1 2EY
hello@youthscape.co.uk
01582 877220
Registered charity no. 1081754.
Registered company no. 3939801
registered in England, a company
limited by guarantee.
The 2022 Youthscape/St Mellitus lecture is now available
to watch and listen to at the Youthscape Store. This was
Dr Sara Schumacher, reflecting on the role of imagination
in youth work.
“Young people have the potential to lead us back to an
embrace of the imagination… What they see, what they
say, what they desire may not always be a problem to
solve. Instead, it can be an opportunity to see the world
that could be through their eyes.”
P.8