We are all feeling the impact of the pandemic. Whether we are working from home or on site, living by ourselves or with partners or with housemates or with kids or with all three, our day to day life is hard yakka. It is pretty tough at the moment. But what has it been like for our young people?
Education has been disrupted in Australia owning to restrictions to suppress the spread of COVID-19. We all know that, especially those of you who have teenagers going through secondary and tertiary education. You are dealing with this every day. But what is it like for those with less in their lives? The Mission Australia’s 2020 Youth Survey focused on listening to the young voices of the pandemic. What they have to say gives us some insight into our most disadvantaged young Australians:
“I have had problems accessing my remote learning as I don’t have Wi-FI and can’t afford it. I sent off an email about 2/3 weeks ago and still haven’t heard any update on the situation. How am I supposed to have a proper education without the ability to access my resources.” (Female, 17, VIC)
“Money, with coronavirus I haven’t had a job all year and I’m very low on money. With only 5 months left of school before going into the real world it is stressing me out as I don’t have enough money to live. I didn’t get job keeper and I could get any Centrelink payments…Over the past 6 months my anxiety has built us pretty bad especially with the stress of school and not having any money.” (Female, 17, QLD)
The Property Industry Foundation is working closely with our charity partners and the property and construction industry to be proactive and make sure we overcome these tough times together. With your help last year we provided funding to 12 charity partners who supported over 2600 young people through the homes we built and the early intervention and counselling programs we funded. Whitelion was one of those charity partners. They supported Yolanda* to get back to school and provide a pathway to work. You can read more about her here.
We are all feeling the impact of Covid-19, but together we can make a difference in the lives of young Australians in need.
