Social isolation is being felt by disadvantaged young people.
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The Baytree Centre have said that disadvantaged young people are concerned about their future due to poor social networks.
The centre works to empower women and girls through workshops, mentoring, and community building activities. Development Director for the charity, Carmen Gonzales, is not surprised by the recent report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that stated “disadvantaged young people feel less in control of their futures.”
She said: “If you are poor, and if you are struggling with surviving today, why should you be thinking about tomorrow?”
The survey, which uses data from the Covid Social Mobility and Opportunities study, investigated factors such as household income, parental qualifications and regional deprivation and measured them against the amount of control a young person feels they have in relation to their future.
But, Gonzales points to the fact that these factors only go some way to determine control, and that access to information and opportunities is the main determining force in a young person’s future.
“Social isolation is the main issue. And this means that when we are trying to support young people from these backgrounds, to have better life chances, we need to give them skills, knowledge and opportunities through social networks.”
“These are out of reach in their social environment, and networks can help them to connect to jobs, to companies, to careers and people that they will have never even known existed.”
Kayla knows a lot about the importance of these opportunities. She is now 23, but started attending workshops at the Baytree Centre in primary school. She shared how it allowed her to feel present and stay motivated.
She said: “It gave me something to really focus on and I felt a sense of control. I could put my focus on the mentoring. I could put my focus in street dance.”
“I have something to look forward to, at the end of the day or the week, and just really have some fun and connect with others. I can get the sense of control and having something meaningful to do, and to build on myself.”
Chief Executive of ELEVATE Youth Mentoring, Trevor Gomes echoes Gonzales’ lack of surprise at the report’s findings. Mainly working in Lewisham and Bexley, Gomes stated that young people feel less in control due to “a lack of experience and opportunity which are related to employers and working professionals.” He added that this has a significant impact on the “mindset that young people can go and achieve their dream.”
The ONS have said that “future research on this topic would benefit from the inclusion of additional variables that are known to be associated with deprivation and socio-economic background, such as the types of schools that young people attended and their results in previous school assessments.”
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Standfirst
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HeadlineSocial isolation deprives disadvantaged young people, warns London empowerment charity
Short HeadlineSocial isolation risk for disadvantaged young people
Standfirst The most disadvantaged young people risk being isolated from society, due to a lack social connections and networks.
The Baytree Centre have said that disadvantaged young people are concerned about their future due to poor social networks.
The centre works to empower women and girls through workshops, mentoring, and community building activities. Development Director for the charity, Carmen Gonzales, is not surprised by the recent report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that stated “disadvantaged young people feel less in control of their futures.”
She said: “If you are poor, and if you are struggling with surviving today, why should you be thinking about tomorrow?”
The survey, which uses data from the Covid Social Mobility and Opportunities study, investigated factors such as household income, parental qualifications and regional deprivation and measured them against the amount of control a young person feels they have in relation to their future.
But, Gonzales points to the fact that these factors only go some way to determine control, and that access to information and opportunities is the main determining force in a young person’s future.
“Social isolation is the main issue. And this means that when we are trying to support young people from these backgrounds, to have better life chances, we need to give them skills, knowledge and opportunities through social networks.”
“These are out of reach in their social environment, and networks can help them to connect to jobs, to companies, to careers and people that they will have never even known existed.”
Kayla knows a lot about the importance of these opportunities. She is now 23, but started attending workshops at the Baytree Centre in primary school. She shared how it allowed her to feel present and stay motivated.
She said: “It gave me something to really focus on and I felt a sense of control. I could put my focus on the mentoring. I could put my focus in street dance.”
“I have something to look forward to, at the end of the day or the week, and just really have some fun and connect with others. I can get the sense of control and having something meaningful to do, and to build on myself.”
Chief Executive of ELEVATE Youth Mentoring, Trevor Gomes echoes Gonzales’ lack of surprise at the report’s findings. Mainly working in Lewisham and Bexley, Gomes stated that young people feel less in control due to “a lack of experience and opportunity which are related to employers and working professionals.” He added that this has a significant impact on the “mindset that young people can go and achieve their dream.”
The ONS have said that “future research on this topic would benefit from the inclusion of additional variables that are known to be associated with deprivation and socio-economic background, such as the types of schools that young people attended and their results in previous school assessments.”
