Youth survey 2014

This survey finds that young Australians are struggling to cope with stress as they strive to achieve their goals in life. Overview This year, 13,600 young Australians aged 15-19 took part in Mission Australia's 13th annual youth survey. The 2014 survey explored what young people value, their issues of concern, where they turn for help, their engagement in community activities and feelings about the future and included a particular focus on young people's aspirations. The survey revealed that while over 8 in 10 young people felt that achieving career success and being financially independent were highly important, only around 6 in 10 of young people who highly valued these aspirations felt that they would be achievable. At the same time, the issue of greatest personal concern for young people in 2014 was coping with stress, with more than one in three respondents expressing high levels of concern, highlighting the immense pressure young Australians are facing in their final years of school. Other survey highlights Around 80% of young people ranked education and hard work as the top two factors they believe will influence their career opportunities in the future Almost 50% of young people dbelieve where they live will affect the career opportunities available More than 70% of young people ranked owning their own home as a key aspiration, and most felt this was also achievable despite falling rates of home ownership in Australia Coping with stress is the number one personal concern for young people, alongside school or study problems. Young women in particular are increasingly overwhelmed with more than half saying they are either extremely or very concerned about coping with stress