Youth club closures between 2010 and 2019 led to higher rates of crime and worse educational outcomes, a report has found.
Around 30% of youth clubs in London closed between 2010 and 2019 due to cuts to local authority funding.
New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that teenagers in the capital who lost access to a nearby youth club were 14% more likely to engage in criminal activity in the six years following closure, with particularly large increases in crimes like theft, robbery, drug offences and violent crimes.
It also found that teenagers who lost their nearest youth club performed nearly 4% of a standard deviation worse in their GCSE exams, roughly equivalent to a decline of half a grade in one subject.
The effects were more severe for pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds, whose test scores fell by almost 12% of a standard deviation, which corresponds roughly to doing more than a grade worse in one subject.
Report author Carmen Villa said: ‘Youth clubs provide support to teenagers that goes beyond recreation, offering mentorship, structured activities such as sports and music, and a safe space for socialising – resources many teens cannot find elsewhere.
She added: ‘Overall, the societal costs of increased crime and lost education far outweigh the initial savings from youth club closures.’
