Research reports

Care experience and family

Good Practice Report #GoneTooFar: Insights from Local Authorities Across England, On Good Practice for Keeping Children in Care Close to Home

Become · 2025

This report examines what local authorities in England are doing well to keep children in care close to their home communities, drawing on interviews with senior leaders from ten local authorities and Greater Manchester Combined Authority. It identifies eight good practice themes — including reducing demand, improving foster care capacity, and embedding contextual safeguarding — that have helped authorities maintain lower proportions of children living more than 20 miles from home. The report finds that 18,000 children in care in England currently live more than 20 miles from home, a figure that has risen by two-thirds since 2013. It calls on the Department for Education, Ofsted, and local authorities to improve data, accountability, and regulatory frameworks to tackle this systemic challenge.

Young people consultedInterviewCase studyEngland

Employment, skills and economic security

Ambitious for Young People: A New Era of Support and Opportunities

The Centre for Young Lives · 2025

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Other

Care experience and family

British Red Cross Report: ‘I returned to life’ why refugee family reunion must be protected

British Red Cross · 2025

This British Red Cross report explores the experiences of refugee families navigating the UK's family reunion visa system, drawing on interviews with people who have lived experience of separation and reunion, as well as lawyers and caseworkers. It finds that family separation severely harms refugees' mental health and ability to integrate, that hidden costs and long delays push some families towards dangerous journeys, and that women and children left behind face acute risks of violence and exploitation. The report recommends that any future changes to the family reunion route be guided by principles of fairness, prioritising need, flexibility, and efficiency.

Co-producedInterviewMixed methodsUK-wide

Employment, skills and economic security

The Opportunity Index: The Geography of Opportunity and Social Mobility in England

Sutton Trust · 2025

This report presents an Opportunity Index for all 543 parliamentary constituencies in England, analysing how socio-economic background and geography shape educational and employment outcomes for young people eligible for Free School Meals (FSM). Using linked administrative data covering over 10 million pupils across 25 years, it finds that opportunity is heavily concentrated in London, with all top 20 constituencies located there, while constituencies in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West fare worst. FSM pupils in the best-performing areas are significantly more likely to reach university, secure employment, and enter the top 20% of earners compared to those in the lowest-ranked areas. The report calls for policy action across early education, school funding, apprenticeships, higher education access, and regional economic investment.

Secondary analysisEngland

Disability and neurodivergence

The Reality of Sporting Dreams for Young Disabled People

Activity Alliance · 2025

This report explores the sporting aspirations and participation of young disabled people in the UK, with a particular focus on the impact of the 2024 Paris Paralympics. It finds a substantial "dream deficit" among disabled girls, who are least likely to aspire to reach the top of sport (36%) compared to disabled boys (61%), and face compounded barriers related to both gender and disability. Mental health is the strongest motivator for disabled young people to be active, yet those who would benefit most face the greatest access barriers. The report calls for more inclusive local opportunities, better representation, and cross-sector collaboration to address inequalities in disability sport.

SurveyUK-wide

Disability and neurodivergence

Play, Move, Belong: Active Futures for Young Disabled People

Activity Alliance · 2025

This report presents findings from a 2025 survey of over 2,000 young disabled and non-disabled people (aged 5–16) and their parents and caregivers about their experiences of sport and physical activity. Young disabled people are significantly more likely to be 'less active' than their non-disabled peers, with the gap widening with age, and only 3% meeting recommended daily activity guidelines. Key barriers for young disabled people include lack of confidence, not feeling comfortable, fear of not belonging, and their impairment itself — with disabled girls, those with mental health problems, and those with multiple impairments most disadvantaged. The findings will inform a three-year programme to improve inclusive sport and activity participation for young disabled people.

SurveyUK-wide

Mental health and wellbeing

Care Before Crisis: How the UK government can turn the tide on young people's mental health (Mind 2025 report on young people's mental health, drivers of worsening mental health, impact of long waits, costs of failing to intervene early, benefits of early intervention, Young Futures Hubs)

Mind · 2025

This report by Mind examines the worsening state of young people's mental health in England, finding that over half a million young people are on waiting lists for support, with many reaching crisis point before receiving any care. It identifies key drivers including financial insecurity, academic pressure, social media, and cuts to youth services, and makes the case for early intervention as both more effective and more cost-efficient than crisis care. The report calls on the UK government to scale up its Young Futures Hubs programme to cover every local authority area by 2035, backed by sustainable multi-year funding, and sets out a wider package of reforms to reduce NHS waiting times and tackle mental health inequalities.

SurveyMixed methodsEngland

Employment, skills and economic security

Unlocking the potential of young people furthest from the labour market

Joseph Rowntree Foundation · 2025

This report examines the situation of young people aged 16–24 who are furthest from the labour market, focusing on the approximately 600,000 who have been out of work or learning for more than 12 months. It finds that mental ill health — often intertwined with poverty, housing insecurity, and low educational attainment — is an increasingly common barrier, and that existing 'work-first' employment programmes have largely failed this group. The report sets out four key policy principles — a blended approach, highly targeted support, high unit cost with contained total cost, and flexible success measures — and assesses the Government's Get Britain Working white paper and Pathways to Work green paper against these principles.

Focus groupSecondary analysisEngland

Mental health and wellbeing

#BeeWell 2025 Greater Manchester Headline Findings 2024/25: Survey Responses Completed By Over 36,000 Young People in Years 7 and 10

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) · 2025

The 2024/25 #BeeWell survey heard from 36,494 young people in Years 7 and 10 across 147 secondary schools in Greater Manchester, tracking wellbeing across domains of happiness, health, safety, and future success. Wellbeing levels in Year 10 have remained broadly stable since 2023, with 55.1% reporting "good" wellbeing, though persistent inequalities by gender, sexual orientation, neighbourhood, and ethnicity remain. Key concerns include low rates of healthy eating (only one in ten meeting five-a-day guidelines), girls' significantly lower physical activity levels, and a quarter of young people lacking someone to talk to about their worries. The report sets out priority actions for schools, local authorities, and community partners across Greater Manchester.

Young people consultedSurveyMixed methodsNorth West

Housing and homelessness

Move On for Young People Experiencing Homelessness in 2023/24

Centrepoint · 2025

This report examines the accessibility and affordability of housing for young people aged 16–24 with experiences of homelessness in England in 2023/24. It finds that nearly all English regions had a shortfall between social housing allocations and the main housing duty owed to young people, with one-bedroom stock undersupply a key driver. Private rents rose sharply and HMO stock contracted, leaving nearly half of young private renters surveyed struggling to afford rent; meanwhile young people made up 16% of all households entering temporary accommodation despite being 13% of the adult population. The report makes policy recommendations including abolishing the Shared Accommodation Rate, prioritising one-bedroom social home development, and expanding Stepping Stone accommodation.

SurveySecondary analysisEngland

Employment, skills and economic security

Youth Index 2025

The King's Trust (formerly The Prince's Trust) · 2025

The King's Trust TK Maxx Youth Index 2025 is the 17th annual survey measuring the happiness and confidence of young people aged 16–25 across the UK. The report finds that NEET young people have the lowest overall wellbeing scores, with 50% feeling hopeless about their future, 53% feeling embarrassed about being out of work, and 30% having experienced a mental health problem due to unemployment. Young people from low-income backgrounds, those with no GCSEs, and those with a disability also report significantly lower wellbeing. Despite these pressures, 70% of young people feel determined to achieve their goals, and the majority see employment as key to stability, confidence and mental health.

SurveyUK-wide

Education, learning and attainment

Mind the Engagement Gap: A National Study of Pupil Engagement in England's Schools

ImpactEd Group · 2025

This large-scale national study surveyed over 81,000 pupils across 200 schools in England during the 2024–25 academic year to measure cognitive, emotional, and behavioural engagement. Key findings show that school enjoyment falls sharply at the Year 6–7 transition (average score dropping from 6.0 to 3.8), and continues to decline through secondary school. Disadvantaged pupils, White pupils, and girls (particularly around anxiety) show notably lower or worsening engagement scores, while higher engagement is strongly associated with lower persistent absence among secondary pupils.

SurveySecondary analysisEngland

Identity, belonging and community

OnSide Generation Isolation 2025: Social Lives, Trust and Connection in an AI Age

OnSide Youth Zones · 2025

This fourth annual OnSide Generation Isolation report surveys 5,035 young people aged 11–18 in England about how they spend their free time, their social connections, and their use of digital technology including AI. Key findings include that 76% of young people spend most of their free time on screens, 39% have turned to AI chatbots for advice, company or support, and 34% report high or very high feelings of loneliness. While 53% say social media makes friendships easier, 49% feel most connected when spending time together in person, and 92% of youth club attendees say it has made a positive difference to their lives.

SurveyEngland

Mental health and wellbeing

Young People's Wellbeing in Doubly Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods in Greater Manchester

Local Trust / #BeeWell / Centre for Education and Youth · 2025

This report examines the wellbeing of young people living in 'doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods' (DDNs) — areas that are both materially deprived and lack social infrastructure — in Greater Manchester, comparing them with peers in non-DDNs. Using survey data from over 62,000 young people and two online focus group workshops, the study finds that young people in DDNs report worse life satisfaction, greater feelings of unsafety, and slightly higher loneliness than those in non-DDNs. The gaps are most pronounced for girls, LGBTQ+ young people, and white young people. Recommendations include greater involvement of young people in local decision-making and ring-fenced funding to protect informal 'third places' for socialising.

SurveyFocus groupNorth West

Housing and homelessness

Hidden In Plain Sight: Understanding Youth Homelessness 2023-24

Centrepoint · 2025

This report analyses youth homelessness across the UK in the financial year 2023–24, estimating that approximately 118,134 young people (aged 16–24) faced homelessness — a 10% rise on the previous year. Using Freedom of Information data from English local authorities alongside published data from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, it finds that only 67% of young people who presented to their local authority were formally assessed. The report also explores how homelessness is experienced differently by gender and nationality, and highlights systemic challenges including local authority gatekeeping, underfunding, and inconsistent implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. Recommendations are made to central and local government to improve data collection, ring-fence funding, and extend protections for vulnerable groups.

Secondary analysisInterviewUK-wide

Mental health and wellbeing

National Youth Strategy Research Project: Young Person's Report

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) · 2025

This report summarises findings from a large-scale consultation with over 14,000 young people aged 10–21 (or up to 25 with SEND) in England, conducted to inform the government's National Youth Strategy. Young people identified five key themes: wellbeing, community, skills and opportunities, safety and security, and youth voice. Top concerns included mental health access, financial insecurity, lack of community spaces, online safety, and feeling unheard in decisions that affect their lives. The report highlights that challenges are interconnected and locally shaped, and calls for greater government investment in mental health services, recreational spaces, and life skills education.

Co-producedSurveyFocus groupEngland

Care experience and family

Behind the Behaviour: Understanding Children's Violent Behaviour Towards Their Parents

Action for Children · 2025

This report analyses data from Action for Children's Parent Talk service, drawing on 318,866 parent contacts and 362 one-to-one coaching chats between 2022 and 2025, to examine rising demand for support around children's violent or abusive behaviour towards caregivers. It finds that demand for this support has risen 51% since 2022, and identifies strong links between children's violent behaviour and unmet SEND and mental health needs, school transitions, and emotionally-based school avoidance. Parents describe exhaustion, shame, and isolation, compounded by fragmented statutory services with high thresholds and long waiting times. The report recommends joined-up government action to treat children's violent behaviour as a safeguarding issue driven by unmet needs, and to improve early help access for families with adolescent children.

Secondary analysisOtherUK-wide

Health and physical wellbeing

Healthcare Transition Report 2024-2025

Barnardo's (NHS Young Researchers / NHS Youth Forum) · 2025

This report by NHS Young Researchers (part of the NHS Youth Forum) investigates young people's experiences of transitioning between paediatric and adult NHS services. Surveying 106 young people and 16 parents/carers, the research found that no respondents began transition within the NHS-recommended age window of 11–13; the average start age was 16.6 years, and many experienced abrupt, unstructured handovers with poor communication between services. Key harms included young people being left without any healthcare support, negative mental health impacts, and a gap in provision for 16–18-year-olds. The report recommends national transition policy reform, better communication between services, holistic person-centred care, and healthcare worker training led by young people with lived experience.

Co-producedSurveyMixed methodsEngland

Education, learning and attainment

The Children's Plan: The Children's Commissioner's School Census (Sept 2025)

Children's Commissioner for England (Dame Rachel de Souza) · 2025

A landmark census of nearly 19,000 state-funded schools and colleges in England — representing 86% of all such settings — found that schools are increasingly filling gaps left by underfunded wider children's services, providing mental health, social care, and community support far beyond their core teaching role. The report reveals wide variation in pastoral provision by region and deprivation level, and shows that funding shortfalls, lack of specialist staff, and poor data sharing prevent schools from fully meeting pupils' additional needs. The Commissioner makes seven major recommendations for reform, including a national 'additional needs' framework, a new Children's Plan digital platform, a core specialist support offer for all schools, and reformed Education, Health and Care Plans.

SurveySecondary analysisEngland

Employment, skills and economic security

Wasted Youth: Helping Britain's Young Adults into Work

Centre for Social Justice · 2025

Nearly one million 16–24-year-olds in the UK are NEET — an increase of around 200,000 since the pandemic — with payrolled employment for under-25s still below pre-pandemic levels. The report identifies two main groups driving the rise: young people who are economically inactive due to sickness (predominantly mental/emotional and cognitive difficulties) and so-called 'other' NEETs who have minimal contact with government services and are largely from low-to-middle-income households. Drawing on secondary analysis of the LFS, FRS and UKHLS, plus a commissioned GP poll and focus groups with frontline charities, the CSJ argues that the current welfare system traps sick NEETs in inactivity and proposes a Future Workforce Credit — paying employers 30% of a NEET's salary — alongside expanded Connect to Work and SWAPs to reverse the rise in NEETs.

Secondary analysisFocus groupUK-wide

Employment, skills and economic security

PwC Youth Employment Index 2025

PwC UK Economics Team · 2025

The 2025 PwC Youth Employment Index finds the UK has fallen to 27th place among OECD economies, marking the steepest decline in the G7, as youth unemployment has risen to 15.3% and economic inactivity among young people has hit a 20-year high of around 3 million. The report finds no statistically significant link between AI adoption and overall youth unemployment, though early warning signs are visible in the IT and business services sectors where entry-level and graduate roles have declined sharply. One in eight young people are now classified as NEET — the highest rate in a decade — and the report estimates that reducing regional disparities in NEET rates could add £13–26 billion to UK GDP. The analysis draws on ONS Labour Force Survey data, OECD statistics, and an econometric model to assess the relative roles of cyclical labour market cooling and AI adoption in driving these trends.

Secondary analysisOtherUK-wide

Employment, skills and economic security

Living precariously: Young Women's Experiences of Insecure Work

Young Women's Trust · 2025

This report by Young Women's Trust explores the gendered dimensions of insecure work among young women and non-binary people aged 18–30 in England and Wales. It finds that young women are more likely than young men to work in low-paid insecure sectors such as hospitality and health and social care, to feel trapped in insecure work, and to face workplace discrimination they feel unable to challenge. Almost half of young women reported feeling forced into insecure work due to their circumstances, and 40% said their mental health worsened while in insecure roles. The report calls on government and employers to strengthen workers' rights, enforce existing protections, improve flexible working options, and expand skills development for insecure workers.

Co-producedSurveyFocus groupEnglandWales

Gender and sexuality

Girls' Attitudes Survey 2025 - A Girl's World: Sexism, Misogyny and the Power of Sisterhood

Girlguiding / CHILDWISE / People's Postcode Lottery · 2025

This annual survey of over 2,600 girls and young women aged 7–21 across the UK examines their experiences of sexism, misogyny, mental health, and aspirations. Key findings include that 68% of 11–21-year-olds changed their everyday behaviour in the past year to avoid sexual harassment, and that exposure to misogynistic behaviour in schools begins as early as age 7. Girls report growing sadness and loneliness, particularly among younger age groups, while also showing increased ambition and a strong sense of solidarity with one another. The report calls on politicians, schools, and decision-makers to take concrete action to tackle inequality and better protect girls.

Young people consultedSurveyUK-wide

Environment and climate

Children in Wales Youth Peer Research Project: Sustainability and Poverty Co-Production

Children in Wales / Youth Peer Researchers · 2025

This youth-led peer research project, conducted by eight young people aged 13–18 in Wales, investigated the barriers to eco-friendly behaviour among children and young people across Wales. Using a bilingual survey (816 responses) and five focus groups (53 participants), the researchers found that most young people care about the environment but face significant barriers including cost, lack of accessible eco-friendly options, peer and family influence, and limited or repetitive environmental education in schools. The report recommends that the government improve public transport, make eco-friendly products more affordable, increase funding for local environmental projects, and give young people more of a voice in decision-making.

Youth-ledSurveyFocus groupWales

Results