National Youth Social Action Survey

The National Youth Social Action survey has run annually since 2014 and plays a key role in informing the work of the #iwill partner organisations from across all sectors, which is geared towards achieving the collective goals of the #iwill campaign. For the purposes of the campaign, social action is defined as ‘practical action in the service of others to create positive change’ and covers a wide range of activities that help other people or the environment, such as fundraising, campaigning, tutoring/mentoring and giving time to charity.

This summary report provides the findings from the sixth wave of the survey, which consisted of 2,081 interviews with 10 to 20 year olds in their homes between October and November 2019; providing a nationally representative sample of young people across the UK.

Although the latest 2019 wave found a consistent downward trend in young people participating in meaningful social action, this year there was an increase in the proportion of young people who stated it was important for them to try and make a difference in the world, and cared about contributing to make the world a better place.

This year’s data also showed a decline in the amount of young people who did not participate because they were ‘not interested’. However, the findings suggested an increase in the proportion of young people who stated there are ‘few/no opportunities in my area’. This could indicate that, despite there being more of an interest in participating, young people are not finding the opportunities to do so.

• Download the report on the GOV.UK website

This report provides this year’s findings, as well as learnings and recommendations for areas to focus on in the future.