Qualitative Report

After publishing the quantitative findings from the Rural Youth Project survey in 2018 we have dug deep into its sentiments and collated a host of podcasts, blogs and vlogs to hear directly from young people. What we have found is that there is only so much that black and white statistics can tell you about their lives. We have been humbled and astounded by their honesty and their vision. It has cemented our view that we need to listen more, to support more, and to encourage young people to re-imagine rural places.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to many changes for young people, so we felt that it was a crucial time to ‘hear’ the voices of the under-30s living rurally. So, we decided to produce this follow-up qualitative report, to capture the sentiments from the free-text responses in our 2018 survey and from our other engagement. This report also includes results and sentiments from the 2020 Rural Youth Project Covid-19 survey which was launched to ascertain how the crisis was impacting the lives of young people and compounding some of the issues they face living in a rural area.

This report shares rich and vibrant insights into the everyday challenges and opportunities that young rural people face, wherever in the world they live.