Young people need opportunities in the UK, not Europe

That’s why the ambition behind the Prime Minister’s recent announcements around youth employment and apprenticeships should absolutely be welcomed. However, I also think we need to be honest about the growing disconnect between policy announcements like these and the many young people who actually feel the difference in their day-to-day lives.

Over the years, both personally and professionally, I’ve worked alongside countless young people who are full of talent, resilience and potential, yet still feel increasingly disconnected from employment, education and their future. 

It’s not because they lack ambition. Instead, they often lack confidence, networks, guidance, and a sense that opportunities are accessible to them.

At BREAKOUT, the charity I recently founded, we see this firsthand through our first employability cohort, where 74% of young people started the programme feeling negative or uncertain about their future, despite many having already applied for jobs, courses and opportunities. That statistic alone says a lot.

But there is a direct correlation with class to be made within this argument, too. 93% of young people facing unemployment come from the top 30% of deprived areas nationally. Many of these young people aren’t engaging in politics because they feel like it doesn’t impact them.

While Starmer’s speech focused heavily on Europe, we must ensure that opportunities here in Britain are not overlooked.

Too often, young people are still being expected to navigate increasingly complicated systems completely alone. And after a while, repeated rejection changes how young people see themselves.

Because if opportunities never feel visible, accessible, or designed for you, many young people eventually stop believing they're truly for them in the first place.

That’s why improving outcomes for young people cannot focus solely on performative solutions and opportunities that look good on paper.

Apprenticeships, technical education and work placements matter enormously. But if we genuinely want to rebuild trust, hope and engagement amongst young people, we also need to invest in the relational support around them… think mentoring, employer engagement, confidence-building and long-term progression support.

Because young people experience systems through relationships. And often, the people and programmes that change lives are the ones that make young people feel genuinely seen, supported and believed in.

The opportunities outlined in the Prime Minister’s speech need to go beyond simply focusing on economic inactivity figures and really address the disconnect too many young people are currently experiencing here in the UK.

Because ultimately, opportunity has to become more than a policy announcement. It has to feel visible, accessible and genuinely attainable in young people’s everyday lives.

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Roman Dibden is an award-winning social entrepreneur focused on tackling youth unemployment and redesigning sustainable pathways into work based in the North West.

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