National VET research resource NCVER has dug into data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Youth on the experience of 20 year-olds in the pandemic last year. It’s not all bad and people were coping with the bits that were

 Of the 62 per cent studying, nearly everybody kept at – only 5 per cent deferred last year. But their experience changed – in 2019 97 per cent some time on campus, 37 per cent did last year.

While a third were working less hours and 28 per cent had to move back home, on the whole most were managing, 73 per cent were “satisfied with life overall” down from 79 per cent in 2019 and 57 per cent were managing financially, actually up on 2019.

Which might demonstrate the resilience and optimism of young people, but not all f them – 23 per cent were “likely to have a serious mental illness.”

Let us see what that figure is after another year of lock-downs in NSW and Victoria.