Polling breakdown

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). 

Self-employment 

• 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. 

Future of work and society

• 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%. 

Zero-hours contracts 

• 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. 

Employment rights education 

• 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. 

Trade unions

• 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.