Working for no pay

42% of young people have been asked to work for free.
Young female workers were more likely to have been asked to work for no pay 44% compared to 40% of young male workers.
Of the cohort of young people who had been asked to work for no pay, 53% are black, African, Caribbean or black British compared to 40% who are white.
Young people from the North East of England are more likely to have been asked to work for no pay with 61% being asked to work for no pay, 26% had never been asked to work for no pay and 13% who did not know. The region of the UK with the lowest number of young people being asked to work for no pay was Northern Ireland where only 24% of young people had been asked to work for no pay. The average across the 12 regions was 41%.
51% of young people work overtime and 56% of them do not always get paid for it.

Written employment contracts

38% of young people either do not have or do not know whether they have a written employment contract.
Only a quarter of young people feel comfortable always taking the rest breaks from work that they are entitled to.
16-17 year olds were the least likely age cohort to have a written employment contract with only 34% having a written contract. This compares to 59% of 18-21 year olds and 67% 22-24 year olds. 66% of 16-17 year olds either do not have or do not know if they have a written contract (46% do not have, 20% do not know).

Around 10% of young people have been forced into self employment
Young people from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to have undertaken self-employment as a financial necessity rather than a positive choice. 38% of Asian/British Asian, 39% of Black, African, Caribbean or Black British and 44% of mixed or multiple ethnic groups. This compares to 27% from a white background.

Only 37% of young people think their standard of living is better than their parent(s) or guardian(s)
40% of young people feel much better or a little better about their long term career prospects than they did at the end of 2019.
Almost half of young people have taken steps to mitigate against the cost of living crisis.
61% of young people agree that CEO pay should be more tightly regulated by government
56% of young people agree that excess wealth should be taxed in line with incomes
Young women are more likely to feel that their current standard of living is worse than their parents’ generation at the same age. 34% NET of young women felt that their living standards are declining compared to 22% of young men.
Only 21% NET of young people based in the North East felt that their living standards are getting better compared to their parent’s generation.
Young people in Yorkshire & the Humber were the most positive about their living standards with 52% feeling that their living standards were getting better or much better than their parents’ generation. The average for feeling NET better across the 12 regions was 37%.

40% of young people have been employed on a zero hour contract.
Young women are slightly more likely to have been employed on a zero-hours contract than their male counterparts. With 42% of young women being employed on zero-hours compared to 39% of young men.

Almost two thirds of young people did not receive, or don’t know if they received, information about employment rights at school
40% of young people don’t have a good understanding of, or know about, their pension entitlements.
Of the third that did, only 51% had a lesson about employment rights
Young women are more likely to not have received information at school about employment rights than young men.
Young women – 32% did receive information about employment rights at school, 59% did not and 8% did not know.
Young men – 40% did receive information about employment rights at school, 47% did not not and 13% did not know.

73% of young people are not members of a trade union.
49% of young people would consider joining a trade union, whilst 25% don’t know.
Almost 20% of young people don’t feel comfortable joining a trade union.