The youth unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 24 in the United Kingdom was 15.3 percent in the third quarter of 2025, compared with 14.1 percent in the previous quarter. After falling to just 9.2 percent in July 2022, the youth unemployment rate has increased at pace and is almost as high as it was following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Nevertheless, youth unemployment is lower than in the early 2010s, when youth unemployment reached a high of 22.5 percent in November 2011. Almost one million UK youth not in work or education In the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of people aged between 16 and 24 that were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) was 987,000, the highest figure in more than ten years. One of the main reasons for this increase has been the general rise in people being on long-term sick leave since the COVID-19 pandemic, which reached a peak of 2.8 million at the end of 2023. While older adults are still more likely to be on long-term sick, the number of younger workers on long-term sickness has increased more rapidly. In the ten years between 2014 and 2024, the number of 16 to 24-year-olds economically inactive for this reason increased from 138,000 to 271,000. Prospects for youth employment in 2025 Reversing the current trend of increasing youth inactivity is one of the main challenges facing the UK economy in 2025. It is currently unclear if the labor market is equipped to handle this issue, however. Job vacancies, while not at a particularly low level, have been falling for several months since peaking in 2022. UK businesses are also under pressure from an increase in the national insurance they must pay from April 2025 onwards, with taxation being the main external concern of UK businesses at the end of 2024. In this environment, it is uncertain if they will hire more staff, especially younger workers who have spent extended periods of time out of work.

The unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was five percent in September 2025, up from 4.8 percent in the previous month, and the highest rate of unemployment since 2021. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK had relatively low levels of unemployment. Between January 2000 and the most recent month, unemployment was highest in November 2011, when the unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent. Will unemployment continue to rise in 2025? Although low by historic standards, there has been a noticeable uptick in the UK's unemployment rate, with other labor market indicators also pointing to further loosening. In December 2024, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell to its lowest level since May 2021, while payrolled employment declined by 47,000 compared with November. Whether this is a continuation of a broader cooling of the labor market since 2022 or a reaction to more recent economic developments, such as upcoming tax rises for employers, remains to be seen. Forecasts made in late 2024 suggest that the unemployment rate will remain relatively stable in 2025, averaging out at 4.1 percent and falling again to four percent in 2026.
Demographics of the unemployed As of the third quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for men was slightly higher than that of women, at 4.4 percent, compared to 4.1 percent. During the financial crisis at the end of the 2000s, the unemployment rate for women peaked at a quarterly rate of 7.7 percent, whereas for men, the rate was 9.1 percent. Unemployment is also heavily associated with age, and young people in general are far more vulnerable to unemployment than older age groups. In late 2011, for example, the unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 24 reached 22.3 percent, compared with 8.2 percent for people aged 25 to 34, while older age groups had even lower peaks during this time.

Unemployment numbers and rates for those aged 16 or over. The unemployed population consists of those people out of work, who are actively looking for work and are available to start immediately.

Unemployed numbers and rates also shown for equalities groups, by age, sex, ethnic group, and disability.

The data are taken from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The data are produced monthly on a rolling quarterly basis. The month shown is the month the quarter ends on.

The International Labour Organization defines unemployed people as: without a job, want a job, have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and are available to start work in the next 2 weeks, or, out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next 2 weeks.

The figures in this dataset are adjusted to compensate for seasonal variations in employment (seasonally adjusted).

Data by equalities groups has a longer time lag and is only available quarterly from the Annual Population Survey, which is not seasonally adjusted.

Useful links

Click here for Regional labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics.

Click here for Labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics.

See here for GLA Economics' Labour Market Analysis.

See here for Economic Inactivity statistics.

See here for Employment rates.

This dataset is one of the Greater London Authority's measures of Economic Fairness. Click here to find out more.

Youth unemployment rose sharply as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent sector lockdowns in the UK and across the world with 18.5% of young people aged 15-24, unemployed across EU, 40% in Spain (European Parliament Study, 2021), and 14.9% in the UK (House of Commons Library, 2023). Although, the employment rates are showing some recovery, research shows that youth unemployment has delayed long-term negative impacts on future well-being, health and job satisfaction of individuals. It increases young people’s chances of being unemployed in later years and carry a wage penalty (Bell and Blanchflower, 2011). Young people (15-24 year olds) are also more likely to work part time, often not out of choice (Pay Rise Campaign 2015), are at higher risk of ‘in-work poverty’ (Hick and Lanau 2018), more likely to be employed in low-paid and insecure jobs (across OECD countries). In the UK, labour market disadvantage is coupled with the rising cost of higher education and crucially the tightening of social security conditionality through Welfare Reform (since 2012) which could be linked to a drop in eligible young people claiming welfare support (Wells 2018). A vast body of literature has emerged in the West on youth policies and the nature of welfare state (Esping-Andersen 1990; Taylor-Gooby 2004; Wallace and Bendit 2009; Pierson 2011). It, however, remains silent on the crucial question of devolution. This ESRC funded research examines the impact of devolution on welfare provision and the sub-state welfare regimes in the UK in the focused context of youth unemployment. The project is progressing in three phases (Wave 1: 2020-21 / Wave 2: 2022-23). Wave1 identified, categorised and compared scales and types of civil society involvement in youth unemployment policy between the three devolved nations of the UK: England, Scotland and Wales. In doing so examined the implications of these differences for both youth unemployment provision and devolved policy arrangements. It has provided an internationally salient analysis located in the global phenomenon of state reconfiguration, the emergence of sub-state welfare regimes and the adoption of welfare pluralism. The research found that devolved social policy in Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Wales goes some way to mitigating the work first policy approach emanating from Westminster. Crucial to this are the key points of convergence and contention between devolved (education) and non-devolved (welfare) areas of youth employment policy on the ground (Pearce and Lagana 2023). The way in which these key points of policy tension play-out in key institutional areas like Jobcentre Plus, is the focus of the second phase of project. Wave 2 focused on ground level sites of service delivery (2022-2023). Research shows that the policy structures and the perceptions of frontline staff about the policy provisions and people claiming them, shape the nature, attitudes and processes of service delivery, and have implications for service claimants and unemployment addressal (Cagliesi and Hawkes 2015; Fletcher 2011; Fletcher and Redman 2022; Rosenthal and Peccei 2006). This phase of project was a more in-depth, critical and comparative examination of the way policy plays out on the ground through a systematic investigation of the perspectives of frontline staff interacting with the young people, in the specific context of devolution. We interviewed frontline staff in England, Scotland and Wales to study how policy is perceived and translated on ground level at the sites of service delivery in these three devolved nations from the following five categories: 1). Work Coaches (Jobcentre Plus- All ages) 2). Youth Employability Coaches (Jobcentre Plus- Young People) 3). Additional Work Coaches (Youth Hubs) 4). Careers Wales / Fair Start / National Careers Service Advisers 5). Civil Society job advisers (CWVYS/Skills Development Scotland /Youth Employment UK) This research will continue to take advantage of the UK’s unique, asymmetrical devolved arrangements to address the identified gap in research examining youth (un)employment under devolved systems of governance. The broader aim is to critique the notion of 'one UK welfare state' and, in doing so, progress our understanding of the impact of decentralisation, devolution and territorial rescaling on welfare state formation across Western Europe.

This research is important for three key reasons: (1) EU comparisons treat the UK as 'one welfare state' when in fact devolution in the four nations of the UK mean that this is not the case and, as yet, we know little about the differences in policy and civil society approaches to tackling youth unemployment between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (2) It takes advantage of a valuable opportunity to compare policy divergences and create the first cross-comparative dataset on civil society activity in youth unemployment in the context of devolution. (3) It will tell us something new and different about what works and what doesn't work in policy and practice within and between four different policy contexts relevant to any country that has decentralised or devolved systems of welfare provision.

Currently 17% of young people are unemployed across Western Europe. In the UK where around 5.4% people are unemployed, 16-24 year olds are nearly three times more likely to be out of work (12.5%). With dropping population wages -nearly £1,600 lower than five years ago- affecting young people in their twenties more (£1,800 lower), hard line austerity measures in the UK since 2010 affecting the cost of living and of wages, increase in precarious employment, the rising cost of further education coupled with welfare reform and tightening government provision for the unemployed means more young unemployed people are dependant on charity support; and civil society organisations are a crucial stop-gap in this scenario. Yet we know little about how civil society organisations operate within and between the four nations of the UK and even less about the effect that devolution is having on their role in youth unemployment. The study will address this gap in knowledge and show which elements of policy, practice and state-civil society relationships seem most effective, ineffective, productive and promising; and crucially, why.

Recent UK central government policies to mitigate youth unemployment have focused on routes into work such as; 'widening access' programmes for universities, encouraging continued education, boosting apprenticeships and placing duties on local authorities to enforce these measures. However, approaches to delivery, scale and supplementation of these policies (e.g. through Work Experience schemes) varies and civil society or not-for-profit organisations, commonly termed the 'third sector', plays a role in balancing-out this variation. Some groups lobby government for better youth unemployment policy and provision, some work with government to shape and delivery policies and some provide additional services and resources for young, out of work people; but all, as research has shown, are likely to become both more important as the consequences of austerity measures and public sector cuts play-out and more divergent as devolution progresses.

Understanding civil society involvement in youth unemployment relies heavily on the social and political contexts within which they are working. However, existing studies tend to treat the UK as 'one' welfare state when in fact devolution since 1998 has steadily eroded the accuracy of this. The UK has four different governments, four very different policy approaches to youth unemployment which means important differences between welfare provision and the role of civil society. The findings from this research will provide the first full picture of civil society's role in devolved youth unemployment policy and provision.

The findings will also have implications for the UK's exit from the EU. Both Wales and Northern Ireland rely heavily on EU youth unemployment initiatives and funding. The extent to which this gap will be filled by the UK government remains unknown, but if funding decreases the role of the third sector in providing welfare for the young unemployed could become more important in filling an ever widening gap in welfare.

Approximately 14.1 percent of people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in the United Kingdom in the second quarter of 2025, the highest of any age group in that month. During this time period, older age groups have had much lower unemployment rates than younger ones, who have consistently had the highest unemployment rate. For almost all the age groups, the peak in the unemployment rate was recorded in 2011 when almost a quarter of young working age people were unemployed. Young adults in the labor market In the provided time period, youth unemployment was at its lowest rate in the third quarter of 2022, when it was 10.3 percent. Since then, there has been a noticeable uptick in youth unemployment, which was 14.8 percent towards the end of 2024. A more long-term trend among this age group is the increase in economic inactivity, with 40.8 percent of 16 to 24-year-old's not in work or actively looking for work in 2024. Although students or people in training account for a high share of this economic inactivity, there has also been a rise in the proportion of young adults who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), which reached a ten-year-high of 13.2 percent in late 2024. Unemployment up from low baseline in late 2024 In 2022, the UK labor market, had very low levels of unemployment along with a record number of job vacancies. Throughout 2023 and 2024, this very tight labor market began to loosen, although is still quite low by historic standards. One indicator that has stood out since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, has been the number of people economically inactive due to being on long-term sick leave, which reached 2.82 million in the first quarter of 2024, and has been the main reason for economic inactivity in the UK since late 2021.

The COVID Social Mobility & Opportunities Study (COSMO) is a longitudinal youth cohort study that was initiated following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is following the lives of over 13,000 young people in England who were in Year 11 during the 2020-21 academic year. The main aim of COSMO is to generate high-quality evidence for answering the question of how the pandemic affected socio-economic inequalities in life chances, including short-term educational attainment and wellbeing, and long-term educational and career outcomes.

Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 5 percent in September from 4.80 percent in August of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Employment placement agencies in Europe’s revenue is anticipated to contract at a compound annual rate of 9% over the five years through 2025 to €65.4 billion. The COVID-19 outbreak tanked business confidence and expansion plans because of economic uncertainty after months of global lockdowns, forcing hiring freezes in a tricky time for employment agencies. 2022 marked a resurgence for agencies, with companies entering a hiring frenzy post-pandemic. The labour market is cooling in 2025 amid greater global uncertainty with US tariffs impacting business confidence. Still, employment across Europe remains high. According to Eurostat data, employment in the EU reached a record peak of 75.8% in 2024. Companies enjoyed a post-COVID-19 boom in hiring, as the economy reopened and companies began to look to expand thanks to improved business confidence, which kept employment agencies busy. The labour market has proved resilient against the economic background of high interest rates and high inflation in recent years, but remains tight with several unfilled vacancies. Vacancies have dipped from the sharp rise post-COVID-19 when companies unfroze hiring decisions. Available vacancies are proving difficult to fill in 2025, indicating a skills mismatch between job seekers and roles that agencies are struggling to negotiate. Several countries attempt to address long-standing labour shortages to ameliorate professional mobility and offer training courses for in-demand skills through agencies. France, for example, is addressing youth unemployment through upskilling training programmes. Public sector hiring in Germany and Spain in health and education also pushes revenue growth for agencies compared to stunted private sector demand. Revenue is expected to rise by 8.7% in 2025 amid job cuts in the technology sector. Revenue is projected to swell at a compound annual rate of 13.2% over the five years through 2030 to reach €121.6 billion. Agencies will continue to target revenue growth by elevating their online presence, specialising their services towards more niche sectors and targeting executives and upper management positions. Technological developments remain a threat to recruiters, with HR AI systems like Paradox able to scan networking platforms such as LinkedIn for candidates. Companies’ in-house HR teams are expanding too. The sustainability sector looks to be a hot property job market to target, but potential shortages in both high and low-skilled occupations driven by employment growth in STEM professions and healthcare will create hurdles in the hiring process in other sectors.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) asks a sole adult in a random sample of households about their, or their household's, experience of crime victimisation in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked, covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). These variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. In 2009, the survey was extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range was also selected from the household and asked about their experience of crime and other related topics. The first set of children's data covered January-December 2009 and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main study.

The Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) became operational on 20 May 2020. It was a replacement for the face-to-face CSEW, which was suspended on 17 March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was set up with the intention of measuring the level of crime during the pandemic. As the pandemic continued throughout the 2020/21 survey year, questions have been raised as to whether the year ending March 2021 TCSEW is comparable with estimates produced in earlier years by the face-to-face CSEW. The ONS Comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales report explores those factors that may have a bearing on the comparability of estimates between the TCSEW and the former CSEW. These include survey design, sample design, questionnaire changes and modal changes.

More general information about the CSEW may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page.

History - the British Crime Survey

The CSEW was formerly known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), and has been in existence since 1981. The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland (data held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599). Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted. Up to 2001, the BCS was conducted biennially. From April 2001, the Office for National Statistics took over the survey and it became the CSEW. Interviewing was then carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles. The crime reference period was altered to accommodate this.

Secure Access CSEW data
In addition to the main survey, a series of questions covering drinking behaviour, drug use, self-offending, gangs and personal security, and intimate personal violence (IPV) (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are asked of adults via a laptop-based self-completion module (questions may vary over the years). Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaires are included in the main documentation, but the data are only available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7280), not with the main study. In addition, from 2011 onwards, lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7311).

New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18
The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onwards are based on a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old datasets are not, comparability has been lost with years prior to 2012-2013. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide (see SN 8464) and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) asks a sole adult in a random sample of households about their, or their household's, experience of crime victimisation in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked, covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). These variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. In 2009, the survey was extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range was also selected from the household and asked about their experience of crime and other related topics. The first set of children's data covered January-December 2009 and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main study.

The Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) became operational on 20 May 2020. It was a replacement for the face-to-face CSEW, which was suspended on 17 March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was set up with the intention of measuring the level of crime during the pandemic. As the pandemic continued throughout the 2020/21 survey year, questions have been raised as to whether the year ending March 2021 TCSEW is comparable with estimates produced in earlier years by the face-to-face CSEW. The ONS Comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales report explores those factors that may have a bearing on the comparability of estimates between the TCSEW and the former CSEW. These include survey design, sample design, questionnaire changes and modal changes.

More general information about the CSEW may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page.

History - the British Crime Survey

The CSEW was formerly known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), and has been in existence since 1981. The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland (data held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599). Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted. Up to 2001, the BCS was conducted biennially. From April 2001, the Office for National Statistics took over the survey and it became the CSEW. Interviewing was then carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles. The crime reference period was altered to accommodate this.

Secure Access CSEW data
In addition to the main survey, a series of questions covering drinking behaviour, drug use, self-offending, gangs and personal security, and intimate personal violence (IPV) (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are asked of adults via a laptop-based self-completion module (questions may vary over the years). Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaires are included in the main documentation, but the data are only available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7280), not with the main study. In addition, from 2011 onwards, lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7311).

New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18
The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onwards are based on a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old datasets are not, comparability has been lost with years prior to 2012-2013. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide (see SN 8464) and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’.

Extending the BCS to Children
Following the 'Smith Review', 'Crime statistics: an independent review', the BCS has included children aged 10-15 years, through screening at sampled addresses. The British Crime Survey Experimental Data: Children Aged 10-15 Years, January-December, 2009 comprises the first set of BCS children's data to become available.

The primary aim of extending the BCS to children is to provide estimates of the levels of crime experienced by children and their risk of victimisation. In addition to questions about experience of crime, the BCS children's survey also gathers information on a number of crime-related topics such as perceptions and attitudes to the police, anti-social behaviour, crime prevention and personal security. It is therefore envisaged that the BCS children's survey will also provide a rich source of data to assist in understanding the nature and circumstances of crimes experienced by children aged 10 to 15 years.

Estimates published based on these data have been published as 'Experimental Statistics'. In accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, 'Experimental Statistics' are new official statistics undergoing evaluation and published to involve users and stakeholders in their development as a means to build in quality at an early stage. As such, these data are subject to future revision and change.

Comparing the children's data with the adult BCS
The BCS children's experimental dataset has been developed as an extension to the existing adult BCS to children aged 10 to 15 years. However, methodological differences between the adult and child BCS mean that direct comparisons cannot be made between the adult and child data. That said, while the questions asked and levels of detail collected differ between the data sources there is a common approach to the classification of incidents to offences in law. For further details of the methodology, see documentation.

Findings publication
The findings from the first set of children's data have been published as:
Millard, B. and Flatley, J. (ed.) (2010) Experimental statistics on victimisation of children aged 10 to 15: findings from the British Crime Survey for the year ending December 2009 England and Wales, Home Office Statistical Bulletin 11/01, London: Home Office. Retrieved October 26, 2010 from http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb1110.pdf

This report presents findings from the third (wave 3) in a series of follow up reports to the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, conducted in 2022. The sample includes 2,866 of the children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey. The mental health of children and young people aged 7 to 24 years living in England in 2022 is examined, as well as their household circumstances, and their experiences of education, employment and services and of life in their families and communities. Comparisons are made with 2017, 2020 (wave 1) and 2021 (wave 2), where possible, to monitor changes over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on society; it changed the way we work, learn, socialise, and move throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, policies such as business closures, travel restrictions, and social distance mandates were implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19 and implemented and relaxed intermittently throughout the response period. While negative emotions and feelings such as distress and anxiety during this time of crisis were to be expected, we also see the signs of human resilience, including positive feelings like determination, pride, and strength. A longitudinal study using online survey tools was conducted to assess people’s changing moods during the pandemic in the UK. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used to measure self-reported feelings and emotions throughout six periods (phases) of the study from March 2020 to July 2021. A total of 4,222 respondents participated in the survey, while a sub-group participated in each of the six study phases (n = 167). The results were analysed using a cross-sectional study design for the full group across each study phase, while prospective cohort analysis was used to assess the subset of participants who voluntarily answered the survey in each of the six study phases (n = 167). Gender, age and employment status were found to be most significant to PANAS score, with older people, retirees, and women generally reporting more positive moods, while young people and unemployed people generally reported lower positive scores and higher negative scores, indicating more negative emotions. Additionally, it was found that people generally reported higher positive feelings in the summer of 2021, which may be related to the relaxation of COVID-19-related policies in the UK as well as the introduction of vaccines for the general population. This study is an important investigation into what allows for positivity during a crisis and gives insights into periods or groups that may be vulnerable to increased negative states of emotions and feelings.

Youth engagement and skills acquisition within Africa’s transport sector was a collaborative research project between Durham University, UK, the University of Sokoto, Nigeria, the South African Labour and Development Research Unit [SALDRU] at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the UK-based NGO Transaid. The project’s core data set deposited with RESHARE comprises in-depth interviews focused on daily mobility and transport, conducted by project academic staff and young unemployed women we trained as peer researchers at the outset of the study; a small number of focus group discussions conducted by academic staff; and diaries focused on daily mobility, mostly written by peer researchers during the pandemic. Anonymised data sets are provided for each of the three study cities. Note: The research team had also anticipated collecting quantitative data concerning the pilot trainings for transport users and transport workers led by Transaid. These were to have comprised baseline assessments, followed by post-intervention surveys after one month and six months to assess skills uptake among participating women. Although Transaid staff succeeded in implementing pilot training interventions in each city, in the final months of the project, COVID constraints limited recruitment numbers and the collection of baseline data amenable to statistical analysis. Collection of post-intervention data has not been possible due to COVID constraints and the requirement to end the project on 31st March 2022. Transaid’s reports on the pilot interventions will be made available on the project website: https://transportandyouthemploymentinafrica.comAcknowledging the importance of mobilising Africa's young women into the labour-force, this research addresses the specific impediments presented by a highly gendered transport and travel arena and the implications this has for girls' and women's current/future access to meaningful work. Women of all ages are discriminated against, both with regard to access and use of transport (which affects their access to skills acquisition and employment across all sectors) and with reference to their employment within the transport sector itself. Relevant skills acquisition at an early age, for safely navigating transport and more equitably seeking employment is essential if they are to break through such barriers.

We aim to understand and address these challenges through in-depth participatory research with young women of low socio-economic status in peripheral locations of Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia (one city-region per country), including piloting of skills-based interventions. The research has three, interlinked strands: a)The User Strand comprises research into improving young women's use of transport to access training programmes and employment, built around the following questions: -What are the economic, social and infrastructural determinants of the transport ecology in which young women are located and how does it impact on their transport experiences and behaviours? -How is young women's physical access to meaningful work and associated skills building shaped by their travel potential and access to transport (i.e. especially travel safety and security for women resident in low income areas)? -What key skills do young women need if they are to travel safely to work and training opportunities (whether as pedestrians, as cyclists, or when negotiating public transport)? -How can appropriate safe travel skills training be provided? -What wider interventions are needed to support a safe travel skills programme [e.g. from government, transport unions, NGOs, private sector] i.e. with reference to the multiple layers of political, economic and socio-cultural decision-making processes?

b)The Employment Strand comprises research into improving women's access to skills (e.g. commercial driving, vehicle repair/ maintenance) to enable them to obtain more meaningful employment within the transport sector, built around the following questions: - How have historical, social, political and economic legacies of planning and policy processes impacted on opportunities for women's employment in the transport sector? -How can young women's aspirations to work in this sector be expanded and enhanced? -What do young women perceive as the main barriers to skills acquisition and subsequent employment in the sector? -What skills training can be provided to enable young women to play a more prominent role in the sector? -What wider interventions are needed to support training programmes to improve women's employment in this sector [e.g. from government, unions, NGOs, the private sector]

c)The Action Research Strand builds on User and Employment Strand findings.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on society; it changed the way we work, learn, socialise, and move throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, policies such as business closures, travel restrictions, and social distance mandates were implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19 and implemented and relaxed intermittently throughout the response period. While negative emotions and feelings such as distress and anxiety during this time of crisis were to be expected, we also see the signs of human resilience, including positive feelings like determination, pride, and strength. A longitudinal study using online survey tools was conducted to assess people’s changing moods during the pandemic in the UK. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used to measure self-reported feelings and emotions throughout six periods (phases) of the study from March 2020 to July 2021. A total of 4,222 respondents participated in the survey, while a sub-group participated in each of the six study phases (n = 167). The results were analysed using a cross-sectional study design for the full group across each study phase, while prospective cohort analysis was used to assess the subset of participants who voluntarily answered the survey in each of the six study phases (n = 167). Gender, age and employment status were found to be most significant to PANAS score, with older people, retirees, and women generally reporting more positive moods, while young people and unemployed people generally reported lower positive scores and higher negative scores, indicating more negative emotions. Additionally, it was found that people generally reported higher positive feelings in the summer of 2021, which may be related to the relaxation of COVID-19-related policies in the UK as well as the introduction of vaccines for the general population. This study is an important investigation into what allows for positivity during a crisis and gives insights into periods or groups that may be vulnerable to increased negative states of emotions and feelings.