Pathways to Participation for Marginalised Young People
Fewer than 40% of 18-24-year-olds voted in the 2024 General Election, and just 22% in the lowest socio-economic group. This policy brief, from Partnership for Young London and Royal Holloway, University of London, with the support of the Pan London Children in Care Council, explores why and what could change it.
Researchers held focus groups before and after the election with 21 young Londoners aged 16-24, including care leavers and young people from marginalised communities.
Rather than focusing on the practicalities of voting, the young people steered the study towards a bigger question: why vote at all?
Three themes emerged:
No clear youth offer: parties were seen as overlooking issues like low pay, housing and poverty.
Little meaningful engagement: politicians’ efforts were seen as tokenistic or absent between elections.
Weak civic education: politics felt hard to understand, and information hard to find.
With Votes at 16 under debate, the brief recommends more direct engagement with young people, better civic education in and beyond schools, and co-creating policy with diverse groups of young people.
