Youth work professionals: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 2464 · Professional occupations

Youth work professionals

Youth work professionals look after the welfare and support the development of young people.

How people enter it

Professional youth workers require an accredited qualification at degree level, recognised by the National Youth Agency. Experience working with young people may also be useful. Background checks including a DBS check are likely to be required.

What the work involves

provides activities to assist young people develop and fulfil their potential as individuals and within the community
develops relationships with and provides guidance to young people
advises and supports young people experiencing stress or crisis
mentors and counsels young people with mental health problems
manages volunteers and part-time workers, and liaises with other relevant professionals
keeps records and controls budgets

Also called

Youth and community officer · Youth worker (professional)

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	7,100.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	7,900.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	9,100.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	1,100.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	1,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	10,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2464 : Youth work professionals	None	None	2026-03	800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	2,200.00	2026-03
East Midlands	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	700.00	2026-03
London	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	1,300.00	2026-03
North East	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	withheld	2026-03
North West	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	1,100.00	2026-03
Northern Ireland	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	1,100.00	2026-03
Scotland	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	1,200.00	2026-03
South East	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	withheld	2026-03
South West	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	700.00	2026-03
Wales	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	800.00	2026-03
West Midlands	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	withheld	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	2464 : Youth work professionals	None	withheld	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for youth work professionals vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 8 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Clergy · Probation officers · Social workers · Welfare professionals n.e.c.