KFC AUSTRALIA YOUTH FOUNDATION RELEASES ANNUAL REPORT ON CONFIDENCE OF AUSSIE YOUTH

· Aussie youth rank 6/10 on Youth Confidence Index, with 40 percent of young Aussies experiencing a lack of confidence every day

· Eight out of ten young people have experienced a mental health issue

· Limited edition bucket of KFC chips on sale during ‘Chip In For Youth’ week with $1 from every bucket going directly to KFC Youth Foundation

Sydney, Australia, August 5, 2019- The KFC Youth Foundation has released its second annual Youth Confidence Report. The report is a deep dive into how Aussie youth are feeling and their opinions and attitudes into challenges and topics of biggest concern, uncovering a crisis in confidence in young Aussies. 

Nationally there has been a slight uptick, with confidence levels rising to 6 out of 10 in our Youth Confidence Index, up from 5.5 last year. Fewer young people experienced a lack of confidence every day this year than last. But the stark fact remains that Australian youth confidence is still in crisis. Fewer than one in five young people feel confident enough to be themselves in all areas of their lives.

The report found an astounding eight out of 10 young Australians have experienced a mental health issue, with close to 40 percent reporting that their lack of confidence has left them feeling depressed, while just over 60 percent have felt stressed or anxious.

One of the most striking findings within this year’s report is the gender gap in relation to youth confidence. While youth confidence is a big issue, it’s even more prevalent among young women. 48% of young women experience a crisis of confidence most days or everyday - almost 20% more than men (31%)

Overall when looking at the future, the findings painted a challenging outlook, with an astonishing 81% of young Australians not very confident that school and/or tertiary education will prepare them to land a job and 57 percent of young Australians don’t think they’ll ever be able to move out of their home and stand on their own feet.

Social media, government, media and industry were attributed to the negative responses with general themes of distrust and doubt. Three in four say the rise of influencers has created more social pressures and mental health issues such as anxiety. That said, 81 percent take it with a pinch of salt, saying they’re aware that the life influencers portray on their social channels is not a true reflection of their real life.

With pessimism seemingly growing, a mere 17 percent believe the government will leave Australia a better place for the young people of today and only 19 percent having faith in companies to make decisions that will consider young people in the future. 79 percent reported media misrepresents them, affecting their confidence to succeed.

With 2/3 of young people not very confident that Australia will hold plenty of opportunity for them in the future, the KFC Youth Foundation hopes to raise awareness of the crisis in confidence through these findings, and support organizations that implement change through a variety of programs.

Managing Director of KFC Australia, Nikki Lawson said “When people under-25 make up 90 percent of your team, it’s clearly a no-brainer. We were inspired to launch the KFC Youth Foundation in 2018 after seeing how the personal development, life skills and training initiatives that we provide to our employees helped them to be themselves. We want to help give all young Aussies opportunities to succeed and achieve, and even out the playing field for those who may face more or just a different set of challenges than others”

“This year’s survey results show there is more to be done to ensure all young Aussies feel the confidence they need to thrive. But we know we can’t do it alone, that’s why we’ve been working with five incredible charity partners, ReachOut, Whitelion, StreetWork, Youngcare and Reach. They have been doing some amazing work to help young Australians confidently take on the challenges life throws at them.”

This year the KFC Youth Foundation aims to raise $1.5 million through driving awareness of the youth confidence crisis and issues young Aussies are facing. For the first time ever, KFC restaurants around Australia will launch ‘Chip In For Youth’ week, where customers will be able to purchase a limited edition bucket of KFC chips. From every purchase $1 dollar will be donated directly to the five charity partners via the KFC Youth Foundation. Money raised will fund the charities’ projects and mentorship programs to support Aussie youth, helping them to thrive not just survive.

From 6th– 12th August ‘Chip In For Youth’ week will be taking place with limited edition buckets of KFC chips available nationwide.

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Notes to editors – quotes from charity partners and additional information on the KFC Youth Foundation, KFC below.

For more information, interview and content capture opportunities please contact:

Duncan Fredericks @ Ogilvy PR

Email: Duncan.Fredericks@ogilvy.com.au

Number: 0400 447 191

Quote from Reach:

Sasha Lawrence CEO, Reach said, “We’re proud to be one of KFC Youth Foundation’s charity partners and together we’re working harder than ever to improve the confidence of all young Australians. The KFC Youth Foundation supports the important training & development of our Reach crew (under 25) who design & deliver workshops to over 35,000 young people every year and support the delivery of our flagship secondary schools program Heroes Day for Year 9’s in Victoria and NSW.”

Quote from Whitelion:

Adam Gibson, New South Wales State Manager Whitelion said, “Every day I see the huge difference work makes for at risk young people. It is genuinely life-changing for them to go from lives of poverty or struggle or not being able to leave the house due to mental health challenges to being confident young people who have access to new mates at work and financial independence. Not many people would realise a part time job at KFC can change a life.”

Quote from Youngcare:

Anthony Ryan, CEO Youngcare said, “T**he Youth Foundation has supported Youngcare to deliver our Home Support Grants throughout Australia. This support has enabled us exit young people living with a disability out of hospital beds, aged care facilities and nursing homes in to their own chosen residential solutions. The Grants also help keep young people to live in the communities that they choose to live. The KFC Youth Foundation provides choice, independence and dignity to young people with high care needs throughout the whole of Australia.”

Quote from StreetWork:

Helen Banu, CEO Streetwork said, “The key project that has benefitted from the KFC Youth Foundation’s donation is our flagship program which we call the KickStart Mentoring Program.****KickStart is our most requested service where ‘at risk’ young people work one-on-one with a youth case worker to develop plans and goals that seek to address the risk factors impacting their lives. Our youth case workers work with the young person to determine areas of change in their lives and support them through the process of achieving the outcomes while celebrating and reinforcing their successes. This is achieved through innovative and effective service offerings while reinstating their confidence and self-worth in line with their needs, and develop community relationships with specialist youth service providers ensuring the best level of support is available.”

Quote from ReachOut.com.au:

Ashley de Silva, CEO ReachOut said, “Support from the KFC Youth Foundation has contributed to ReachOut connecting with more than 1.2 million young people and their parents in the last six months alone. With your help we’ve been providing information and tools to support young people with key life issues like bullying, relationship challenges and coping with stress. The security and support offered by such a valued partnership means we can continue to focus on young people who are not getting the help they need, particularly in regional and remote Australia.”

About The KFC Youth Foundation:

For most of the more than 35,000 young people working in our restaurants, KFC will be their first training school, their second family and the place where they can be themselves outside of school and home. We proudly provide our people with personal development, life skills and training initiatives which help them to confidently be their best self, make a difference and have fun.

We have seen first-hand from our own team members that when confident, young people have the potential to achieve great things. So, we’ve launched the KFC Youth Foundation to help build confidence in more young Australians. 

The KFC Youth Foundation is our chance to help young Aussies beyond our restaurants. It’s our opportunity to give young people the skills and support they need to thrive in the world now, and in the years beyond. Through the KFC Youth Foundation, we stand behind Australia’s young people because we know when supported and confident they can achieve anything. Under our Foundation we will be supporting a handful of charity partners who offer proven services which help build confidence in young Australians. We want to help them continue to do the amazing work they’re doing, but for more young Aussies

About KFC:

KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM.), is a global quick service restaurant brand with a rich, decades-long history of success and innovation. It all started with one cook, Colonel Harland Sanders, who created a finger lickin’ good recipe more than 75 years ago, a list of secret herbs and spices scratched out on the back of the door to his kitchen. Today we still follow his formula for success, with real cooks breading and freshly preparing our delicious chicken by hand in more than 22,000 restaurants in more than 135 countries and territories around the world. For more information, visit www.kfc.com.au