A report said that youth services in the United Kingdom had lost at least 60 million of funding between 2012 and 2014, with around 350 youth centres closed as a result of the cuts. The report called for a stronger statutory base for youth services, to be run in-house by local authorities.
Source: The UK's Youth Services: How cuts are removing opportunities for young people and damaging their lives, Unison
Links: Report | Unison press release
Date: 2014-Aug
An article examined the changing role and status of professional youth work under conditions of austerity in England. It said that youth work had been subjected to a range of managerialist practices and policy change that had further weakened its position as a profession in the 'welfare division of labour'.
Source: Simon Bradford and Fin Cullen, 'Positive for youth work? Contested terrains of professional youth work in austerity England', International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, Volume 19 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Jul
A report examined the evidence on youth work across the European Union. It said that there was a diversity in youth work practice, actors involved, observable trends in the sector, features of successful youth work, and the range of outcomes associated with that success. The report noted a lack of historic data and robust evaluation that made it difficult to demonstrate effectiveness, but said that available evidence illustrated that youth work practice could bring a range of positive outcomes for young people and wider society. A further report was published alongside this, providing case studies from across Europe.
Source: Working with Young People: The value of youth work in the European Union, European Commission
Links: Report | Case studies
Date: 2014-Feb