I’m 26 years old and have been searching for an environmental job for two years.

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Most weeks, I move between my mum’s house, my boyfriend’s place, and friends’ sofas. It is difficult, and hundreds of thousands of young people are in far more precarious situations than I am, without the fallback of family and friends.

I spend most of my time applying for jobs, volunteering, or attempting to upskill to improve my chances of getting a paid role. Applying for jobs has become a full-time job in itself, as a good application takes an entire day, and each ‘entry-level’ role receives hundreds of applicants. I completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol, and went on to complete a master’s degree in environmental biology.

For over a decade, politicians, teachers and parents have told people like me that education would be the route to securing a well-paying job and, eventually, buying homes and starting families. But for hundreds of thousands of us, that promise simply has not materialised.

As young people, we’re constantly told that we’re the problem. We’re told we’re too lazy, too online, too woke. This isn’t true.........

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