Where young people live, what councils spend on them, and where the Youth Zones are
The census counted every young person in England, place by place. Councils tell the Department for Education each year what they spend on services for young people. OnSide publishes where its Youth Zones are — purpose-built youth centres, open when schools are closed. This puts the three side by side.
This is a map, not a Youth Zone, and nobody here can let you in. Find the nearest one under Find a Youth Zone and check its own website for opening times and what is on before you go.
7,362,584young people aged 8 to 18 in England
Counted by the 2021 census: the ages a Youth Zone is open to.
18 of 152areas of England where a Youth Zone shows
Counties and unitary authorities where a Youth Zone gives an address, or a Youth Zone charity records working there.
11.7%of young people aged 8 to 18 live in an area with a Youth Zone
Counted by the census, area by area.
9 of 18areas with a Youth Zone are in the most deprived fifth of England
Fifths of England’s counties and unitaries, by how many of their neighbourhoods are among the most deprived tenth.
What OnSide says, and what the map shows
OnSide says: “At OnSide, we raise the funds to build state-of-the-art, multimillion-pound Youth Zones in the country’s most economically disadvantaged areas.”
Of the 18 areas of England where a Youth Zone shows, 9 are in the most deprived fifth of English counties and unitaries, and 1 in the least deprived fifth. That is a comparison of whole council areas; a Youth Zone’s own neighbourhood can be more or less deprived than its council area.
What councils in England spend on young people
Net spending on services for young people, each year the Department for Education’s current figures cover, cash and in 2024-25 prices.
| Year | Cash | In 2024-25 prices |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | £462.2m | £619.7m |
| 2016-17 | £387.6m | £509.5m |
| 2017-18 | £352.4m | £457.4m |
| 2018-19 | £335.1m | £425.3m |
| 2019-20 | £310.3m | £383.8m |
| 2020-21 | £323.4m | £380.0m |
| 2021-22 | £341.0m | £399.7m |
| 2022-23 | £368.0m | £403.1m |
| 2023-24 | £394.3m | £410.3m |
| 2024-25 | £374.0m | £374.0m |
Over those years it fell from £619.7m to £374.0m in 2024-25 prices: -39.7%, and 113 of the 146 councils that can be compared spent less. Most of the fall is in open-access services — the ones any young person can walk into — from £317.4m to £151.1m (-52.4%). Targeted services went from £302.3m to £222.9m (-26.3%).
Councils file the same youth work under different headings, so one council’s figure can move because the work moved; the totals for England are steadier than any single council. The figures are council spending only, and begin in 2015-16.
Where the Youth Zones are
England’s counties and unitary authorities, split into five equal groups by the published measure of deprivation — the share of each area’s neighbourhoods in the most deprived tenth nationally.
| Deprivation | Areas | A Youth Zone shows | Real-terms change in services for young people since 2015-16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Least deprived fifth | 30 | 1 of 30 | -41.2% |
| Second | 30 | 2 of 30 | -39.2% |
| Middle | 31 | 3 of 31 | -19.5% |
| Fourth | 30 | 3 of 30 | -48.0% |
| Most deprived fifth | 31 | 9 of 31 | -39.1% |
Open Youth Zones show more often where deprivation is highest. One is present in 9 of the 31 most deprived areas and 1 of the 30 least deprived. That is a finding about where open Youth Zones are, not about how much help anybody gets.
By kind of council
Every county and unitary authority, by the kind of council it is. London boroughs and metropolitan boroughs are the big cities and their conurbations; counties are mostly rural and small-town England; the unitary councils are a mix, many of them cities.
| Kind of council | Areas | A Youth Zone shows | Share of young people aged 8 to 18 living where one shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| London boroughs | 33 | 4 of 33 | 14.5% |
| Metropolitan boroughs | 36 | 8 of 36 | 21.1% |
| Unitary councils in England | 59 | 4 of 59 | 6.8% |
| Counties | 24 | 2 of 24 | 8.3% |
See the areas where no Youth Zone shows, and what that does not mean →
The Youth Zones themselves
OnSide’s pages list 19 open Youth Zones, each its own charity; the ones OnSide marks as coming soon are not counted. 18 of them are on the register. The typical one — the median — reported income of £2,235,044 in its latest accounts. OnSide says: “These youth centres, called Youth Zones, provide local young people aged between eight and 18, or up to 25 with additional needs, affordable access to high-quality sports, arts and leisure facilities and activities, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.”
What this is for
Two readers, and they want different things.
- A young person, or a parent. The list is here to find the nearest Youth Zone, with each one’s own website.
- Somebody arguing about where young people have somewhere to go. This is the spending councils report, set beside the only complete count of young people there is and the Youth Zones that are open, council by council.
This was built without asking you, from information you and others already publish, to show what is possible rather than to speak for you. If you would rather it came down, say so and it comes down, and you do not have to give a reason. If you would rather it were built properly — with your own figures for the young people each one works with — that is the more interesting conversation.