Youth work: April 2021 to March 2022

This set of statistics covers part of the period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Some of the figures in last year’s release, in particular the ‘members’ section, were substantially impacted as outreach was affected by the pandemic and restrictions in place. These figures in this release show large changes compared to the 2020-21 period as numbers begin to return to previous levels. This should be kept in mind when making comparisons to previous years.

Main points

• There were 68,766 registered members of statutory youth work sector provision in 2021-22. This is more than double the number in 2020-21 but remains lower than the pre-pandemic level.  
• At March 2022, there were around 801 full-time equivalent youth work management and delivery staff working in local authorities in Wales, an increase of 6% compared with the previous year.
• The total income for youth work provision across Wales in 2021-22 was £42.7 million and the total spend was £42.5 million. Both saw an increase compared with 2020-21.