Latest government figures show that youth unemployment has reached an all-time high of 923,000 meaning that one in three young people are now out of work.
News reports are talking about a 'lost generation' of 16 - 25 year olds who are NEETS - not in employment, education or training.
Sue Roberts, New Forest Nightstop Co-ordinator at Community First New Forest says her team is seeing the problem first hand. Sue explains, “All the young homeless people supported with emergency accommodation by New Forest Nightstop are out of work and it's getting harder to help them as the jobs aren't there because of the recession. There are few apprenticeships and less university places because competition is fiercer”.
Many young homeless people who stay with Nightstop have had no work experience and are also dealing with family issues so they are lacking in confidence and many have psychological problems due to low self-esteem. As well as leaving school early with no qualifications, many have literacy and numeracy issues.
According to Sue, there are often misconceptions about young homeless people. She says, “Many of the young people we support are victims not just of family breakdown but of the economic downturn and are not always the stereotypical lazy lay-abouts that some people assume.
They don’t want to be disconnected from the workplace but many large employers have stopped recruiting and there are no training programmes available.”
New Forest Nightstop, part of Community First New Forest, provides emergency accommodation to young homeless people aged 16 – 25 in volunteer host households.
There is also a team of support volunteers who work alongside other advice agencies in the New Forest so that any opportunities that do exist of moving into employment, education and training are optimised.
For further information about the work of New Forest Nightstop, contact Sue Roberts or Jude Todd on 01425 478391 or nightstop@cfnf.org.uk
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