In the summer of 2012, I initiated a project that would help me to gain an understanding of the aspirations and ambitions of young people in my constituency, Knowsley. With the economy struggling, and unemployment rising, areas such as Knowsley are experiencing extremely difficult times. Youth unemployment is particularly high and there is much comment in the media about a ‘lost generation’ and the challenges facing young people in trying to find employment.
This project aimed to gain a snapshot of young people in the 14-24 age range in Knowsley. The focus was on how the young people feel about their own lives, their ambitions and aspirations, and the opportunities open to them. We also wanted to get an idea of what they thought about Knowsley as a place to live and the facilities and cultural opportunities it offers them.
There were a number of valuable points that surfaced from our discussions with young people but perhaps the most interesting was that, despite the social and economic disadvantages they face, the young people in Knowsley are no less ambitious than young people elsewhere in the country. There is a tendency to assume that young people from deprived areas have low aspirations and low expectations but we found this not to be true. However, it was also very clear that they are acutely aware of the barriers that confront them in achieving their ambitions which results in a less positive view of the future. They see where they come from as a significant obstacle because of the negative perceptions of the area, and the reality of comparatively low educational attainment.
Despite the clear challenges that emerged from our discussions, I concluded that there is considerable scope to provide additional support in order to level the playing field for young people in deprived areas such as Knowsley, and young people elsewhere. One idea that has emerged from this project is to establish a new resource – either as part of the council or as a separate social enterprise – to work in partnership with existing projects and agencies to link young people with the leisure, cultural and educational opportunities that already exist. The aim would be to provide a signposting service to young people to help them broaden their range of experience to better prepare and support them to achieve their potential. The objectives would include to:
• Create a social media link and a database with young people in Knowsley in order to provide ongoing information about opportunities that exist for educational support, sporting and leisure and cultural opportunities, and other relevant schemes, projects, and organisations;
• Develop active partnerships with other statutory and voluntary agencies in Knowsley; and
• Develop individual relationships with young people and parents in order to enhance their levels of educational achievement, by developing bespoke programmes including one-to-one tutoring, mentoring and enabling access to appropriate cultural, leisure and out of school training activities.
The challenges of trying to break the cycle of poverty and create social mobility are areas which many policymakers have grappled with. Our study in Knowsley is only a snapshot of the thoughts and feelings of young people but I hope it demonstrates that although they face difficulties, young people living in very deprived areas are just as ambitious to achieve and make something of their lives. In these difficult economic times creating social mobility and tackling the barriers poverty creates, must remain a priority for policymakers.
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George Howarth is MP for Knowsley. To read the full report click here.
His pamphlet, A Better Big Society: How Labour can make the ‘big society’ its own, written with Graham Kendall, is available here
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