Young Person’s Guarantee
The impact of lockdown on young people’s lives has already been enormous, and there is much more to come. The full extent is yet to be realised, but already we know that without proactive and targeted support, young people are on track to one of the groups most negatively impacted by the results of lockdown.
2020 and the future
To ensure that our young people don’t become the generation negatively defined by COVID-19, the Scottish Government today is launching the ‘Young Person’s Guarantee’ to help connect young people to opportunities.
The Guarantee will offer young people support to allow them to succeed – based on their own personal ambitions – and will be focussed on those who need it most. This might include support with starting university, college, an apprenticeship or training. It also might enable them to take part in fair employment such as work experience, or a formal volunteering programme.
The aim of the Guarantee is to ensure that within two years, every 16-24-year-old in Scotland will either be:
in paid employment for a period of between 12 and 24 months
enrolled in education
actively involved on an apprenticeship or training programme
engaged on a formal volunteering or supported activity programme
Young people at the heart of the Guarantee
Young people are already involved in supporting and implementing the Guarantee.
In early October, young volunteers from many different backgrounds and experiences took part in our Young Scot Hive #YSHive digital jam session for the Scottish Government. We worked in partnership with Intercultural Youth Scotland, Prince’s Trust Scotland, Barnardo’s Scotland, Close the Gap and Enable Works who supported young people to take part. During the session, the young people co-designed the ‘Journey Map’. This map details the steps that can support young people into work, further education, apprenticeships, training and volunteering opportunities. This is helping to ensure the Guarantee is inclusive by design as well as focused on meeting the needs of young people.
To ensure the Guarantee continues to meet the needs of those it’s designed to support, we’re recruiting 25 young volunteers for the Young Person’s Guarantee Youth Leadership Panel. This panel will be made up of 16-24-year-olds from a wide range of backgrounds. They will be involved conversations, exploration and co-design of the Guarantee. They will collaborate with the Scottish Government, Developing the Young Workforce, Skills Development Scotland and other organisations to explore the governance for the Guarantee to ensure it continues to meet the evolving needs of Scotland’s young people. Please do share this exciting and important volunteering opportunity with young people you know and support. You can find out more about the opportunity here.
The future
We recognise that everyone is being impacted by the current economic crisis. However, research shows us that young people are particularly vulnerable due to the nature of the work they do, with a large number working in hospitality or on zero-hour contracts. The Guarantee will help to ensure that the scarring effect of unemployment on Scotland’s young people will not be the legacy of this pandemic.