Most UK voters back post-Brexit youth mobility scheme with EU

Three quarters of the public back a youth mobility scheme with the European Union, according to a major new poll that will come as a boost to Andy Burnham.

Supporters of every political party, including Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, are more in favour of the move than against it, the YouGov research also found.

The UK already has similar arrangements with countries including Australia and Japan, which allow 18 to 35-year-olds to move and work between countries for up to two years.

A UK-EU summit later this month designed to bring the UK closer to the bloc could clinch a deal on young people’s mobility as well as on a host of other issues including food and drink checks as par of the Labour government’s plans for a ‘reset’.

The poll found 75 per cent of people in favour of the idea.

There was also strong backing from across the political spectrum, with 93 per cent of Labour and 92 per cent of Liberal Democrat and Green supporters in favour as well as 73 per cent of Tories. Even Reform voters are more in favour than opposed, by 49 to 36 per cent, while 59 per cent of those who voted Leave in 2016 say they support such a scheme.

Charles Owen, managing director of the organisation Seasonal Businesses in Travel, said the figures showed that the public “has made up its mind” and the issue is “no longer a debate in the country – only in Westminster”.

He pointed to existing youth mobility schemes with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and India “all countries we have trade deals with. The EU, our closest neighbour and biggest trading partner, is the glaring gap.

“Young people who live and work abroad come home with languages, skills and friendships. That trust pays dividends for decades, when they become tomorrow’s business leaders and decision-makers.”

He also warned that the current lack of a deal was hurting young people.

“The chefs, bar staff, chalet hosts and holiday reps who deliver British holidays across Europe come from every region and every background,” he said. “Yet young people’s share of these jobs has fallen from 62 per cent to 42 per cent since 2017. With almost a million young people in the UK not in education, employment or training, we should be opening doors to work, not keeping them shut.”

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Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at ABTA, the UK's largest travel trade association, which commissioned the poll, said that since Brexit there had been a “69 per cent fall in the number of UK workers in tourism roles across the EU. This is holding back business growth and is also a blocker to opportunities to develop a career in the travel industry.”

"A youth mobility deal would unlock growth for travel businesses and restore opportunities for people to take their first step on the career ladder.

“The strong results in favour echo those from similar research we conducted in 2025 – showing that this is settled public opinion, which the Government can have confidence in to support its decision making.”

YouGov polled 6,714 people between October 14 and 19.

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