News
Insight, Issue 13, 1 December 2010
01 December 2010
Young people’s positive contribution to their communities
Why are we talking about young people’s positive contribution?
The ‘Big Society’ is likely to see an increase in young people’s social action and civic engagement, through programmes such as the National Citizen Service. However, as national programmes are decreasing, local action will take centre stage. The Coalition Government’s vision for the ‘Big Society’ places a spotlight on young people’s involvement in their communities, as active citizens and volunteers.
The National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has been commissioned by the LG Association to develop a practice guide for local authorities and their partners to support them in developing these opportunities for young people.
The project will identify practical current examples of where local authorities and their partners are working with young people to engage and involve them in such activity - to understand how existing effective local practice contributes to the vision for the ‘Big Society’. The project aims to support local authorities and their partners to improve and increase such provision in order to support young people to make positive transitions into learning, work and parenthood.
As part of the project, NIACE is looking for examples of how young adults have made a positive contribution to their community. If you are interested, contact Sue Southwood Programme Director Young Adults by Monday 6 December.
Do young people make a positive contribution to their communities?
Yes, absolutely. There is a strong evidence base which indicates that young people do make a positive contribution to their local community and the impact they can have.
The latest national statistics for a full year from the Citizenship Survey produced by CLG, found that in 2009/10 over half of 16 to 25-year-olds had participated in three broad strands civic engagement – civic activism, civic consultation and civic participation - and took part in formal volunteering at least once in the last year.
In terms of motivation, ‘Helping Out’ (a national survey undertaken in 2006/07) asked young people aged 16 to 24 to choose from a list of reasons for starting to volunteer. The top motivation was, “I wanted to improve things, help people”. A more recent study by the Institute for Volunteering Research also found that 95% of students who volunteer are motivated by a desire to improve things or help people. However, research by the National Youth Agency (NYA), which explored the impact of the recession on young people’s involvement in and perceptions of volunteering, found that the most common motivation (49%) was that ‘it looks good on my CV’.
The link between civic and political participation can be seen in two recent reports. Research by National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) which aimed to assess the short-term and long-term effects of citizenship education on young people in England, found a steady increase since 2001 in young people’s civic and political participation and indications that these young people will continue to participate as adult citizens.
Analysis by NFER of England's response to the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) which explored young people’s civic attitudes and practices, found a strong relationship between young people’s civic knowledge and participation, with students with higher civic knowledge reporting greater likelihood to participate in society.
Are there other benefits?
Research has found that young people’s civic involvement doesn’t just improve their own outcomes. Research by the British Youth Council found that the involvement of youth councillors in public decision making not only increased young people's participation in decision making by 89%, but also improved the quality of youth services (62%) and saved the council money (22%).
A recent NYA report, commissioned by the Local Government Group, demonstrates how wise investment in youth engagement can bring many benefits to local councils, local areas and young people. It highlights the contribution that youth engagement makes to strengthening democracy and delivering many outcomes that communities and councils seek. It found evidence that decision makers change their approach and attitudes to young people, as well as changing the decisions they make, as a result of public participation work by young people.
So what’s next?
The Education Select Committee is currently seeking views on the provision of services for young people aged 13 to 25 which includes how local youth services can meet the government's volunteering priorities for young people. The deadline for written submissions is Wednesday 15 December.
A new Local Government Association and Volunteering England report which aims to encourage debate about the role volunteering can play in local authorities’ support for young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), recognises that volunteering can play an important role in local authorities’ support for vulnerable young people, and recommends that provision of high-quality volunteering opportunities should be developed at a local level to support young people currently NEET. It recommends that local authorities should work more closely with the voluntary and community sector to explore more effective links in supporting disengaged young people. It also proposes the creation of employer-supported volunteering schemes for all local authority employees to help embed the value of volunteering in the culture of local authorities themselves.