UK Youth Actually Want a Year of Service

A year of service for young people has enthusiastic backing from the very age group it would cover, according to a new Focaldata poll of more than two thousand adults in Great Britain commissioned by the not-for-profit organisation With Honor. Some 86% of Britons say service opportunities for young people are important, and six in ten 18-24-year-olds (60%) say they would take part in a year of service if eligible, compared with 32% who say they would not.

Support stays strong even when the practical offer is spelled out. When told participants would work full-time for a year in a charity, community organisation or public service, be paid the real living wage, receive training and a mentor, and finish with a recognised qualification, at a cost to the government of fifteen thousand pounds per participant, 68% of respondents were still in favour, including majorities of voters for every major party tested, according to The Daily Brit. Seven in ten Britons (71%) think a year of service would make Britain stronger, including 59% of 18-24-year-olds.

Older Britons misread young people's attitude to a year of service

The poll's striking finding is a perception gap between the generations. Among Britons aged 25 and over, just 37% thought young adults see service as an opportunity, while 40% thought they see it as an obligation. The reverse is true among 18-24-year-olds themselves: 53% described service as an opportunity that benefits them and others, against 34% who saw it as an obligation.

Young adults were also practical about what would make a year of service worthwhile. Their top reasons for taking part were earning a wage (35%), improving their future career prospects (32%) and earning a recognised qualification (30%). Giving back to the community was cited by 19%. With Honor co-founder and chief executive Rye Barcott said young people "want to earn, learn and come out with something they can use," according to the report, adding that the idea still has friends across party lines.

The poll coincides with the UK publication of Barcott's New York Times bestseller "Courage Can Save Us," and during the launch week he is meeting parliamentarians, veterans, cadets and student leaders to build support for the idea.

Voluntary schemes win support; compulsory service gets rejected

The Focaldata findings sit alongside separate polling that draws a sharp line between voluntary and compulsory service. YouGov reported that a year-long compulsory military scheme is the least popular of twelve variations tested, backed by just 28% of Britons against 64% opposed. Among 18-24-year-olds, only 10% would support that option while 78% oppose it, with two-thirds of the age group strongly opposed.

By contrast, every voluntary scheme tested wins majority support. The most popular is a month of community service only at 72%, with the year-long voluntary equivalent at 69%. Even the variation matching France's voluntary programme is backed by around two-thirds of Britons. The message from both polls is consistent: young people are not against serving, they are against being conscripted.

That preference shows up in the types of service Britons back most strongly. Supporting children and young adults in schools drew 75% support, civic and community service 74%, and emergency preparedness and resilience work 74%. A paid year in a charity, community organisation or public service drew 72% support, followed by environmental and conservation projects at 71%, with the Armed Forces reserves at 60%.

What a paid year of service would mean for a school-leaver

For an 18-year-old leaving school or college, the offer on the table is concrete: a full year of paid work in a charity, community organisation or public service, paid at the real living wage rather than unpaid volunteering, with structured training, a personal mentor, and a recognised qualification at the end. That combination is deliberate: the poll found young people rank earning a wage and improving career prospects well above the more traditional motivation of giving back.

Employers appear willing to value it too. Among respondents who run a business or manage staff, 73% say a year of full-time service in a charity or community organisation would make them more likely to hire a young candidate, while just 6% say it would make them less likely. Two-thirds of all Britons (66%) think employers who take on a young adult through such a scheme should contribute towards their wage. When 18-24-year-olds were asked what would most help young people not in education, employment or training into work, a paid, full-time year of service and financial incentives for employers were among the leading answers.

Victoria Head, chief executive of City Year UK, said young people are telling the sector clearly that they support a year of service when it is paid, recognised and leads somewhere, and that employers, government and charities should join forces to give them that opportunity. Stephen Greene, director of UK Year of Service, added that the pilot programme showed young people can make a meaningful difference in their communities while gaining the skills employers need most.

The politics may prove unusually cooperative. Labour's Al Carns MP, a former Armed Forces minister, said the poll shows young people are willing to step up and that employers will value it, while Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat MP, a Conservative, said both he and Carns agree that giving young people the chance to serve belongs to no single party, and that mandatory service should not be the default. For more on how Britain's young people are thinking, see our politics coverage and why most young Brits no longer expect a better life than their parents.